Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Odds and ends.

Well. I'm glad no one else was offended by my wrath yesterday. I hoped I didn't come off as some whining poo-head who couldn't take criticism or disagreement, and it appears I didn't, so yay.


For those wanting info about my hit logger, I use StatCounter. It is free, and you set up an account with them and then plug some HTML code they give you into your blog page; it can be as invisible as you want it to be. (Obviously mine is pretty invisible. Though if you look at the HTML code for the page and sift through, it IS there.) In 'New Blogger' with the damn widget layout system (am I the only one who'd rather code the HTML from scratch than deal with that bullshit?), you'd plug the HTML into a widget they have that is meant for that. It's labeled as such pretty obviously on the widget list in the layout section. If you want to go stealth, don't label the widget.


I didn't mean to offend anyone in Canada with the 'what in hell is an arbiter of fashion doing in Alberta?' comment yesterday. It's just that, well, Alberta isn't exactly the first place you think of when it comes to the high fashion industry. Or the second. Or the third. From all I've seen of Alberta, it looks like a lovely place and I'd move there in a flash if I weren't married to some guy who insists on raising his kid in the US. So I've got nothing against Alberta, or Canada in general. It's just not, uh, Paris. When it comes to clothes. You know? (That's not a criticism either. I'd rather shop Hudson Bay Company than Dior, myself. This probably means I have no taste or fashion sense, but fuck it.)


After yesterday's great rant about being an asshole on the internet, I turned right around and e-mailed Alwen and told her she's a meanie meanie boogerhead. She's got me hooked on the on-line comic Girl Genius and I've spent the last two days reading through a five-year archive. (I'm up to 2005 and vastly entertained. I think the best line so far was "I wouldn't have him if you stripped him naked and dipped him in cheese.") The good/bad thing about the comic is, it's so vivid and visual, I want to knit the clothes. Like I didn't have enough other ideas laying around here to get to. Do not click unless you have a couple days to read the archives.


They have found a new pyramid in Egypt. At Saqarra. Details here.


I had a request for a new button for the Holiday Spaz-Along. Apparently the term 'spaz' isn't PC in circles where the physically handicapped get treatment. Whoops. Sorry about that. I'm not up on my insulting terminology, apparently. (I must use it all the time.) So a new button will be appearing soon, probably today if I can tear myself away from Girl Genius long enough. I intend to use the same picture and font and everything, just use another term than spaz-along. For those who wish another term. Sorry if I offended anyone; truly, I'm clueless on this stuff. To my mind, I'm the spaz. The handicapped are... well, handicapped. I've got a lot of folks in wheelchairs and stuff in my family and I just don't think of it much because it's always there, if that makes sense. Oops.


Right. Back to Girl Genius, then.

10 comments:

Unknown said...

If you're loving Girl Genius, then you should join the Steamy Stitches group on Ravelry. It's about all things steampunk, including Girl Genius.

You're not the only one looking to knit GG patterns.

Anonymous said...

My kids always said "handicorked" for "handicapped", & I still use the term. As I hang my handicorked parking tag.

Anonymous said...

I love GirlGenius -- The characters are so likeable, even the mean ones. And Krosp. I love Krosp and his little vest.

I'm not entirely into the steampunk thing (like I wouldn't go to some sort of dressing-up-in-clothing-as-an-exhibition thing), but the fashion is awesome, and the clothes are just downright cool.

Anonymous said...

Um, could someone please explain to me exactly how Spaz is applicable to handicapped? And please know that I have a severely developmentally disabled younger brother, so I'm sorta "up" on the slang. I have spent a 40+ year life-time defending a little brother from idiot boogerhead assholes who felt it their personal mission in life to explain to this poor kid just how he was different and wrong. Add to it that I work in the medical field, sometimes with folks who are disabled in some way, both physically and developmentally, and I've heard some of the worst of the terms, and spaz wasn't in there. So called normal people who should know better, but are out of control in one, or often several very visible ways, are spazzy. Not people who have physical issues or developmental deficits and know nothing more than what they are.

Alwen said...

Doh, it's got to be "spaz" as in "spastic", yes? I guess I'm young enough (old enough) to have gone to school with mainstreamed spastic kids with CP or whatever. Gee, they turn out to be amazingly human, who'd a thunk.

Ah can take being called a meanie meanie boogerhead. I did the same thing and slurped down the past five-and-something years of Girl Genius in a couple of long sessions. Whoa. Now I have to wait for the new ones. (weeps)

I loves me some Jagermonsters. And yes, I do remember Phil & Dixie from Dragon magazine, back in the day!

Liz said...

Hiya - it was actually me who requested the different button, so I'd better explain... it's still alive and well as an insult for people with cerebral palsy here (in the UK), and still one of the worst things a kid can call another kid in the playground. We just don't use it in the sense you do in the US.

[Actually, Wikipedia has a great article (look up 'spastic') on the different meanings in the UK and US, so it is evidently a divided-by-a-common-language thing...]

Anyway, I have friends who work with children with CP and mentioned to Julie that I'd have liked to join the holiday knitting madness but couldn't really put the button on my blog... So there you are.

Louiz said...

Girl Genius is great. I did something similar some time ago too. Amazing how quickly the time goes!

Donna Lee said...

I love, love, love Girl Genius. I lost an entire weekend reading all of the strips from the beginning. The artwork is wonderfully detailed and the story line and dialogue is over the top. Perfect.

Amy Lane said...

Oh no--Spaz isn't PC? ALL MY GOOD WORDS ARE GETTING PICKED ON!!!! (What will I call the Cave Troll when he's being a spaznado now!!!)

Anonymous said...

Okay, now I'm hooked on Girl Genius, as well as haunting facebook and obsessively checkin the blogs I read regularly for new posts. When will I find time to do anything in the REAL world?!? Huh???