It's the Blue Screen of Death for me!

This morning, my laptop sang a little song to me. It went like this:

*thunk* *thunk* *THUNK THUNK* *bluescreen*

Huh, I said to my computer, which is nearly four years old and has been giving me fits since the day it landed in my hands, that's a funny little song to sing to me! You must be in something of a mood this morning. Let me reboot you and see what that does! ...It makes you sing the little song again! Isn't that charming?

So I did what any rational person would have done, backed up the last two months' worth of data (mostly music files), and took it to the help desk people at Drew. As luck would have it, I bought a computer with a four-year warranty for a three-year academic program, so even though I'm graduated like a graduated thing, my computer is still covered. This has come in handy, since it has had to go in no fewer than three times since my graduation, and in fact, the warranty is the major thing keeping me from sucking up and buying a new laptop, since I'm loathe to ignore a few more months of free fixins.

It's a bad thing when the people behind the technology help desk know you on sight. I did my impression of the little song for them, trying my hardest to explain that I have heard the click of death before, and this was not the click of death, this was a Wagnerian computer death song. The hooves of the horses of the apocalypse sound less dire than this hollow, heavy, case-rattling strike did. But! said I, I have backed up everything on my hard drive, so you may erase and replace as you will! I think I saw tears of joy in their eyes.

I do believe no part of this computer was originally part of this computer (creating a very that's the same ax that slayed me! problem). It is on screen #2, case #2, keyboard #2, CD drive #2, motherboard #3, video card #2, and I do believe this is going to be hard drive #4. I don't know if the moral of the story is 'never buy IBM' or 'never let me around computers'.

Fortunately, Ashlea has hooked me up with her old desktop, so I may be inconvenienced, but I won't be completely cut off from the internet. I know you'll all sleep easier tonight knowing that.

Depending on how well the tech desk overhauls my laptop -- or, really, how much longer duct tape and prayer can keep it going -- a new computer may soon become a real consideration. Unfortunately, with the upcoming move, I'm not looking forward to spending too much money on any single purchase, especially not one that big. So I suppose me and my machine will toddle on together for at least a little while longer. Until the wheels fall off or the warranty runs out, whichever comes first.

(Also, happy 23rd birthday to Mallory! On Monday, I told a couple of my kids that it was my little sister's birthday. When I told them how old she was, the response was invariably, 'That's not little!' Oh, my children, everything is relative.)

Day of Silence

Please understand my reasons for not speaking today. I am participating in the Day of Silence, a national youth movement protesting the silence faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their allies. My deliberate silence echoes that silence, which is caused by harassment, prejudice, and discriminaton. I believe that ending the silence is the first step toward fighting these injustices. Think about the voices you are not hearing today.

Today is the 11th annual Day of Silence, 'an annual event held to bring attention to anti-LGBT bullying, harassment and discrimination in schools. Students and teachers nationwide will observe the day in silence to echo the silence that LGBT and ally students face everyday.'

It's a great event for middle and high schoolers, as its aim is to get persons at a tender, formative age together in visible (if inaudible) solidarity behind the idea that you shouldn't discriminate against queer people for being queer. Being visibly supportive during structured events like these is a great way to establish yourself as open-minded and supportive for future reference, especially if you're straight. It's sometimes hard to find opportunities to come out specifically as an ally, but it's desperately important, especially if you have friends and/or students who won't approach you unless they know you're safe.

I wish my job were structured in such a way that I could participate in this in good conscience and/or to any real effect, but it's hard to participate in an silence-based event to foster awareness when I spent a great deal of time every day saying important phrases like 'stop hitting him' and 'don't eat that', statements which are far more immediately relevant to the lives of my students than the abstract concept of justice for persons of all genders and sexual orientations. Nonetheless, rest assured that the use of 'gay' as a perjorative term will be met with the sternest disapproval possible.

('What do you picture for gay rights?' I would say, and then it would be all over.)

Signed, Sealed, and Delivered-ish

The two-hour drive between Madison and Bryn Mawr is some hard driving, no matter which way you go. I don't think we've done it the same way twice, and I don't think I can find a way that's less than two hours, regardless.

But that's not the point! The point is that we've signed a lease! Mom saved the day and agreed to co-sign for us, since I have a good income but bad/nonexistent credit, while Ashlea has stellar credit but no fixed income past our leaving NJ. The least starts on the 10th of June, so moving in may be a semi-gradual process.

We had dinner here, which is one of Ashlea's favourite restaurants, and got to check out the area a little more. There's a really nifty little comic store along the main drag, too, which makes me feel a little better about the move -- one of the things in Madison I'm going to miss most is, in fact, our little comic store, which has been such a friendly and loving place.

Is it bedtime yet?

Hard Rock

Climbin' with my sea star!

For the few of you who don't know her, I'd point her out by saying she's the one who looks like me, except that's sort of patently untrue, so suffice it to say that she's the one of the two with the lighter hair and the skinny nose. She got all the skinny nose genes in the family.

A few hours ago, the sky was blue and the sun was shining. Now? It's snowing. I'm serious -- big fluffy flakes wandering their way past the window, sometimes just a few, and then flurries with a lot. It won't stick to the ground, of course, since there's not enough of it and it's not really that kind of snow anyway. But just seeing it is disconcerting enough. Snow on Easter? This isn't even a particularly early Easter! (An early Easter, by my count, is one that occurs when Ash Wednesday falls substantially before my birthday -- this year, it preceded my turning 26 only by a few days.)

Look at this weather forecast. Does this look like spring to you?

The picture may be dopey....

...but I hope the new haircut is cute!

You can see a bit of the kitchen in the background. I was taking a picture with one hand and stirring veggies and soy sausages with the other, so I think the mood here can be best described as 'fashionable multitasking'.