Prompt tables are fun! Comment with 2 sets of 3 randomly chosen words and I'll see what I can do.

001.	Beginnings.	002.	Middles.	003.	Ends.	004.	Insides.	005.	Outsides.
006.	Hours.	007.	Days.	008.	Weeks.	009.	Months.	010.	Years.
011.	Red.	012.	Orange.	013.	Yellow.	014.	Green.	015.	Blue.
016.	Purple.	017.	Brown.	018.	Black.	019.	White.	020.	Colourless.
021.	Friends.	022.	Enemies.	023.	Lovers.	024.	Family.	025.	Strangers.
026.	Teammates.	027.	Parents.	028.	Children.	029.	Birth.	030.	Death.
031.	Sunrise.	032.	Sunset.	033.	Too Much.	034.	Not Enough.	035.	Sixth Sense.
036.	Smell.	037.	Sound.	038.	Touch.	039.	Taste.	040.	Sight.
041.	Shapes.	042.	Triangle.	043.	Square.	044.	Circle.	045.	Moon.
046.	Star.	047.	Heart.	048.	Diamond.	049.	Club.	050.	Spade.
051.	Water.	052.	Fire.	053.	Earth.	054.	Air.	055.	Spirit.
056.	Breakfast.	057.	Lunch.	058.	Dinner.	059.	Food.	060.	Drink.
061.	Winter.	062.	Spring.	063.	Summer.	064.	Fall.	065.	Passing.
066.	Rain.	067.	Snow.	068.	Lightening.	069.	Thunder.	070.	Storm.
071.	Broken.	072.	Fixed.	073.	Light.	074.	Dark.	075.	Shade.
076.	Who?	077.	What?	078.	Where?	079.	When?	080.	Why?
081.	How?	082.	If.	083.	And.	084.	He.	085.	She.
086.	Choices.	087.	Life.	088.	School.	089.	Work.	090.	Home.
091.	Birthday.	092.	Christmas.	093.	Thanksgiving.	094.	Independence.	095.	New Year.
096.	Your Choice.	097.	Your Choice.	098.	Your Choice.	099.	Your Choice.	100.	Your Choice.

Went to Panera for lunch (around 2:30). Ordered a chicken noodle bread bowl. They were out of bread bowls, did I want the soup in a cup? No, not really. Most of the fun is in scraping out the soup-soaked insides of the bread bowl. So I decided to try the chicken fontega sandwich advertised in their display pictures. Would I mind waiting 5 minutes, they don't have any of the bread ready. I go take a seat. Few minutes later, umm, they don't have any of the fontega chicken. There is an already assembled half-sandwich, though, if I'm interested. I'm not. I end up with my regular smoked turkey panini and a full refund. I'm not sure if God was trying to help my diet by pushing me to have the soup without the bread, but if so it backfired.

Also, the Yankee Candle kitchen line was on sale at Giant and the apple cobbler candle is *delicious* smelling.

Dear Technology,

This morning I went online to download the latest Doctor Who special (aired in the UK, not America), and this evening I sat on my couch and watched it on my HD tv with 3 clicks of a button.

Thanks,
Becky

P.S. Why did my wireless connection disappear when my home phone line was in use? Twice? Plz to fix.

Found this looking for Critical Thinking articles for my class project.

The following short quiz was developed by Anderson Consulting Worldwide to test critical thinking. It consists of 4 questions. The questions are not difficult. They are a quick measure of what it takes to be a professional. Answer each question in order, and read the answer before continuing to the next.


1. How do you put a giraffe into a refrigerator?

Answer (highlight): **Open the refrigerator, put in the giraffe, and close the door.
This question tests whether you tend to do simple things in an overly complicated way.**



2. How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator?

Answer (highlight): **Did you say, Open the refrigerator, put in the elephant, and close the refrigerator? Wrong answer.
Correct answer: Open the refrigerator, take out the giraffe, put in the elephant and close the door.
This tests your ability to think through the repercussions of your previous actions.**




3. The Lion King is hosting an animal conference. All the animals attend ... except one. Which animal does not attend?

Answer (highlight): **The elephant. The elephant is in the refrigerator. You just put him in there. This tests your memory. Okay, even if you did not answer the first three questions correctly, you still have one more chance to show your true abilities.**



4. There is a river you must cross but it is used by crocodiles, and you do not have a boat. How do you manage it?

Answer (highlight): **You jump into the river and swim across. Have you not been listening? All the crocodiles are attending the animal conference. This tests whether you learn quickly from your mistakes.**


According to Anderson Consulting Worldwide, around 90% of the professionals tested got all questions wrong. They also tested preschoolers and found that most children got one or two questions correct.

Storytelling without words and talents I do not have combine to a young Ukrainian girl and sand painting

Point to Verizon for fixing some bug with their Video Media Manager -> I am now watching on my tv episode 1 of Robin Hood Season 3, which is on my computer. It's not a quality picture, but I don't know where the blame for that lies.

Let me digress a moment to discuss this episode. I was utterly shocked to learn there was, in fact, a season 3 of Robin Hood, not just because season 2 was terribly bad, but because there didn't seem to be anything else for them to do. All I can say these few minutes into S3E01 is the first scene is almost directly copied from the movie, minus Kevin Costner.

Back to Verizon, which loses the point recently awarded for trying to charge me for a service I didn't sign up for. Apparently there's a free 30-day trial. I pointed out it hadn't been listed on any of my previous bills (with all the other errors in them). You know, the way the free trial of HBO was listed. She simply removed the fee and service and refused to engage me in further conversation. We shall see if I'm appropriately credited in next month's bill, and what they've gotten wrong instead.

...apparently Friar Tuck is a black man.

What? I'm not the game designer who decided undead should heal by eating human(oid) corpses. It's nice to have a healing skill available, though, 'cause my blood elf has naught. This one will end up with not just the cannibalism racial but lifeblood from herbalism as well. Maybe it'll cut down my dying...

All in all, a productive evening for my new rogue. She made level 10, journeyman in all professions (herbalism, alchemy, first aid, fishing, cooking), and some additional fishing achievements, including the 'catch a rare fish' one that my main hasn't managed. I may wait until I'm a higher level to complete 'Explore Tirisfal Glades' because a)walking speed sucks and b)having to fight my way through to far off zones is annoying. And I have to come back for the Scarlet Monastery anyway.

Things I miss: my mount, larger bags, the ability to disrupt spells

Time Counter
2 / 365 days. 99% time remaining!

My young rogue
8 / 814 achievements. 1% done!

Original rogue
110 / 814 achievements. 14% done!

In the spirit of the Julie/Julia movie, I hereby embark on 814* WoW achievements in 365 days!

I've started a new character (Kael'thas server since my usual was down for maintenance). So far I've come to the conclusion that things were a lot easier as my lvl 80 (I've been trying to collect achievements for her too).

ETA: I'm actually going to track both.

* total (978) minus PvP (164). Although I should probly subtract another handful for the raids and dungeons I can't do.

Time Counter
1 / 365 days. 100% time remaining!

My young rogue
0 / 814 achievements. 0% done!

My experienced rogue

110 / 814 achievements. 14% done!

Saw the new Harry Potter. It was a very good movie, want to rewatch a few bits. But that's not why I'm posting.

As my two readers may or may not know, I like Sherlock Holmes. I've read the books, I've seen the tv show, and the other tv show, and all that. This is not my Sherlock Holmes. At all. And yet I cannot stop laughing my way through that trailer. I want to see this movie.

Random odd fact I learned today: it is now widely accepted that supermassive black holes exist at the center of nearly all galaxies.

Also, for those who missed it: a huge blob of "goo" is trying to sneak past Alaska

So I started out looking for Torchwood episodes online to review for a friend who expressed interest, and somehow ended up staying up to 5am watching Death Note episodes. I have now watched all of them. For those unfamiliar with it, the basic concept is a boy, Light, gets a notebook that lets you kill people by writing their names in it. Light decides to use it to eliminate crime from the world, and by crime he means large swaths of the population. Gorgeously drawn, btw.

Things I liked: Someone obviously spent time playing around with the concept, the ways it could be abused, and devising a coherent framework for the supernatural power. This is a nice change from Fullmetal Alchemist where alchemy is completely ridiculous and doesn't obey the defined rules at all.

Light makes a very earnest sociopath, but it was his counterpart L, the detective bent on catching him, who I adored most. L was raised in the Orphanage of Feral Savant Detectives (seriously, that's what they make). Given L's lack of social skills, it's hard to tell if he's a sociopath as well or just too used to thinking like his targets.

Things I didn't like: Women's rights is a big fail, not altogether surprising in an anime. The one I have the most issue with is an ex-FBI agent, who is demonstrably brighter and more insightful than the other male detectives, but who is getting married and her husband tells her not to concern herself over the case, and soon she'll have children to keep her mind occupied. She did not appear to have a negative reaction to this advice.

Also didn't like the opening theme song for the second half of the series.

In what I imagine comes as a surprise only to goldfish, Verizon still does not have my bill correct. Also, the online site denies that the temporary PIN they sent me is correct. I tried holding up the paper to the laptop's camera in hopes it could transmit it thru to the screen, but no go.

At least I'm much happier with how Rick's Madrigal music book (take 2) is coming. I have one page I'm considering 'finished' although I'm tempted to add a few more embellishments, and 3 with the basics down. I'd kind of like more of the paper flowers I used for Kristen's, but those were a) at Michael's and b) in the clearance section, so I don't know if they're still there.

Taken from a post on my other friend's list, because stupidity ought to be shared as widely as possibly.

>>
It's a bird! It's a plane! It's the latest entry in Marvel's ongoing campaign to convince women that we shouldn't buy their comics!

Soooo, let's see. Marvel wants to help the average comic book nerd be stylish this summer. To this end, they've created a variety of (amazingly hideous) superhero costumes for men, and for women they've created... lipstick and lipbalm.

Wow. Lipstick and lipbalm! What shall I ever do with such an embarrassment of riches? What more could I possibly wish for as a female fan of superhero comics? Surely, I and my superheroic pouty lips will be the envy of all the cosplayers at ComicCon! BEWARE MY POUTY LIPS, EVILDOERS!!!

I swear, it's getting to the point where I feel kind of bad every time I buy a comic book, thinking of all the pain I inflict on the poor, suffering Marvel creators by forcing them to accept my icky money with the girl cooties alll over it. How do those oppressed menfolk live with the horror of knowing that their precious work is being read by someone without a penis? Oh, the humanity! Surely their own penises must be withering in shame at the very thought.

But then I remember that they can fix that problem just by looking at any of the recent Ms Marvel covers, and then I don't feel bad for them anymore.
>>

And, as someone points out in the comments:

Look at the t-shirts in the Marvel Shop. Note the difference between the men's and women's t-shirt designs (and the total absence of female heroes, even in the group pictures). It's pretty clear that in Marvel's world view, boys dream of being superheroes and girls dream of being pretty enough to date superheroes.

I find myself in the odd position of having a story idea, fairly fleshed out, and no urge to actually write it. Normally I have an urge to write, but no direction. In any case, I'm declaring my "time off for moving" excuse officially over and will be going back to writing every night (or revising, or something writing related). Yesterday, motivated by the discussion on Whatever about the effect of requiring paper submission vs. online, I sent one of the stories I'd been intending to mail (and which has been sitting, waiting for me to reprint the pages with my address) to an online submission site instead. I should get my rejection letter back soon.

Anyway, after a discussion with a coworker about a story she's writing, I was wondering how people come up with character names? Research, use temporary placeholders at first, randomly look thru yellow pages, consult one's cat...

You arrive on an alien planet that appears to have the same foliage as Earth. Except for a large obelisk.

>>I probe the obelisk

It's resistant to probes.

>>I search for signs of life.

( Click here to see what happens next! )

Today's been an odd day. I get to work, go to buy breakfast, and realize my wallet's not in my purse. I check my car, in case it fell out, but no. Walk back to the office, trying to think where I'd last seen it: on the glass table in the family room. I'd left it at home. So at lunchtime I trek back out to my car and home. Return to work. I'm supposed to be meeting with some potential storyboard reviewers at 1, and then someone else at 2 for scenario ideas. At 12:45 I get a call about a (work-related) thing I'd been waiting on opening up (because of a cancellation), was I available? It'd take about 3 hours, not counting travel time. I return to work in time to check email, start to leave, get to the parking lot, realize I needed to send an email (because my coworker gets in before I do), and have to go back again. Unfortunately, all the walking exercise was probably negated by my stopping at McDonald's for lunch.

In other news, River continues to be utterly cute and adorable and if only I knew where my camera was there would be so many pictures of her curled up on pillows and couches that you would never see because I don't post pictures to LJ. But I would have them.

In other other news, I have given up on my new local chinese place, I've tried 4 of their dishes and haven't liked them. But it turns out the thai place around the corner does deliver. I'm even trying something other than my Chicken Pineapple dish.

Lastly, I really need to stop buying garden things.

It's not writing progress, but I am at least opening up word docs and fiddling some with them. Found this piece I'd started, trying my hand at writing Paedric's pov.

( Paedric and his harp )

1) While Earth-the-planet is 70.8% water, earth-the-ground is primarily rock. And the parts that aren't rock will be irrelevant as they're not where you need to dig. This means that a) your shovel or hand trowel will catch on rock edges instead of sliding straight down, and b) it's heavy.

2) Arrange with the weather gods for clear weather on weekends, followed by rain the following few days. This will give you plenty of time for shopping for flowers, planting flowers, laying down the special planting soil, and covering it all with mulch.

3) Wear disposable clothes and shoes.

4) You will need to be flexible, to delicately place mulch around flowers in the back of the flowerbed without crushing the flowers at the front of the flowerbed.

5) Cats cannot be trusted.

River still unable to decide favorite spot on couch. Rigorous nap-testing continues. Relations between her and Simon haven't settled back to normal yet. I did catch her grooming him a bit, but she may just have been hungry. Today was the first day I didn't leave food in the bedroom for them, but expected them to forage in the kitchen.

Started writing star trek fic, redoing first classic episode with new cast. Ran into slight problem as episodes are kind of overdone and cliche. I realize they probably weren't when they first aired, but that doesn't help me.

Am slowly converting more people to the idea of redoing Star Trek: The Original Series with the new movie cast and reality. Rewatching the series now, and I think it would be very interesting to see how it plays out. Of course, the series has them as established in their roles on-board ship, and not newly promoted. There's a lot in them I've forgotten. But, Uhura and Spock's very first scene, in episode 1, has Uhura doing some heavy-handed flirting. And in episode 2, she sings (again, flirtatiously) while he plays on his lyre.