You've probably heard me tell stories of my ancient Accord, Ruby Lee, who has been getting less and less dependable. The Mr.'s Avalon made sense when he bought it a decade ago, but it's a little silly at this point in terms of gas mileage. So, Ruby's days are probably numbered, and I'll be stuck driving a Toyota boat. Which is OK, I guess, because I don't drive to work (I take Metro), so it's only for shopping and such. Hence the Prius.

It's white and its rear visibility sucks, but it has a back-up camera (and lots of other strange electronic gizmos). I'm thinking we could call it Jeep and confuse everyone.

Oh, and half the power at the dealership building was out. So it took us more than 3 effin' hours to complete the paperwork (the staff were all sharing the printers in the powered part of the building, for one thing). At one point, I was lighting the process with the Mini-Maglite that I carry in my bag, like the geek I am. I am now more behind that ever on what I was trying to get done this weekend ... .

We've done this one before, folks, but lawless523 had a spiffy Gravitation image on hers so I commented and now have to play! Besides, last time I did my office PC. This time, it's the Mac at home, but it's still a landscape photo.

Or at least, I think I have.

Apparently, some people get a nasty, bitter metallic taste in the back of their mouths after eating certain batches of pine nuts (pignolia).

The green bean appetizer at our new local pizzeria place has pine nuts. I had some on Sunday night and ate the leftovers two or three days later. And now I have this distinctive, gronky metallic taste back around my molars and tonsils. It's not like a sinus infection, which I have had before.

Here, have some links about this:

• Pine mouth puzzle: Why do these nuts leave you with a bitter taste? (U.K. Daily Mail, May 18, 2009)
• Foodborne Fear Factor & other random stuff (Minnesota Dept. of Health, June 10, 2009 - scroll to p. 3)
• A nutty problem: Experts try to sort out why certain types of pine nuts seem to afflict some eaters with a bitter aftertaste that can last for days (Baltimore Sun, October 7, 2009)

It can last for weeks, some say ... .

Of course, to me, the Four Questions start with Ma nishtana ha-lailah hazeh ... . However, the meme has something a little more personal in mind! It goes like this:
 

• Leave me a comment saying "Resistance is Futile."
• I'll respond by asking you four questions so I can satisfy my curiosity
• Update your journal with the answers to the questions.
• Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions

lady_ganesh asked me:

1. Who's your favorite character to write?
   
   Has to be Gojyo from Saiyuki! I think he lets the inner me come out and play.
    
2. What's your favorite offline hobby?
   
   The Young Lady heard me ask this outloud and said it has to be reading. I'll add photography - although that goes online once I post the pix to Flickr.
    
3. Do you go to conventions? (I can't remember.) Is there one you want to go to?
   
   I do like to go to cons sometimes. I used to run tournaments at gaming cons. Now I hang out and take pictures of people in costumes. I've gone to Katsucon the last couple of years and hope to do so again in 2010.
    
4. What's your favorite fannish possession?
   
   After the actual books and manga themselves, it has to be my big print of this picture (pefectly worksafe; click on the image once you get there so you can see the whole thing properly). telophase drew/painted this for me! I won her in a charity auction, and asked for something with four mysterious shop keepers from manga/manhwa. We have this framed and hanging in the dining room.

I came across the art for this while I was doing Yuletide icon research. I'd love to know the history of it - I wouldn't have thought that Doa was even literate! Perhaps Isaku or Anotsu taught her to read. Anyway, I'm going to be mixing it in with my other reading and manga icons, and you're welcome to have it as well, if you like.

Finally, a health post that I don't have to lock down - even though it is something like #47 in the series of "How cho is not like other people."

In most people, myopia (near-sightedness or short-sightedness) is caused by lengthening of the front-to-back axis of the eyeball.

But it turns out that mine isn't. And this is actually something of a good thing.

( Cut for pictorial evidence )

In related news, we have had no trick-or-treaters yet ... .   D-:

This is the regular ol' seasonal flu shot, not the N1H1 swine thingy.

>shows off sore arm with the enthusiasm of an 8-yr-old<

I hope that your day includes things as wonderful as they are strange!

Even if you're not a Yuletide-er, this video is beautifully put together, and if you're like me, you will feel, over and over, little aha moments of recognition as old, beloved series and movies make an appearance - and be a little teary-eyed at the end. The music is the Pretenders' version of "Angel of the Morning," and it works wonderfully.

Available as a download only (and I had to add a patch to my Mac Quicktime to view it after that.)

This year's Yuletide icons ... a month earlier than last year! As usual, there are icons on the general themes of winter and gifts as well as book illustrations and covers. This year, I even have a few TV shows thrown in!

The f-list did fairly well, answering 7 out of 12 correctly. I probably could have been nicer and quoted less obscure works by Tanith Lee and Peter Dickinson, for example.

Yikes, how did I miss this? I hope it was great ... !

=.=;

Real world to doubters: it's not in their heads. Medical research now links this devastating condition to a retrovirus:

A Case of Chronic Denial (New York Times)

(Tip of the hat to PG, commenting on Alas, A Blog.)

Reading all these lovely Yuletide book suggestions has made me think of books, books, and favorite books. Thus, this meme ganked from redbrunja some weeks ago:

1. Pick 10 of your favorite books or series.
2. Post the first sentence of each book. (If one sentence seems too short, post two or three!)
3. Let everyone try to guess the titles and authors of your books.

I'll strike off the prompts and credit the guessors as this goes on ... and I'm giving a round 12 lines, because 10 wasn't enough.

ETA: Now with answers to those not guessed!!

1. Everything starts somewhere, although many physicists disagree. - Hogfather by Terry Pratchett, guessed by hikari_mibu
    
2. I shall clasp my hands together and bow to the corners of the world. - Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart, guessed by telophase
    
3. Her kiss burnt his forehead. Keyed senses, distracted by the powdery odour of shampoo, didn't at once register that the fire was frozen.  One Foot in the Grave by Peter Dickinson
    
4. It was gala night at the Royal Theatre, London.   Thursday's Children by Rumer Godden
    
5. July had been blown out like a candle by a biting wind that ushered in a leaden August sky.   My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell
    
6. Prime Predictor Tae ran-Kaeil was long dead, but he lived in the bellies of his aggressive progeny. - Courtship Rite by Donald Kingsbury, guessed by smillaraaq
    
7. Night, near the eastern edge of the walled, sloping grounds of the estate, with these walls, perhaps a quarter-mile from the house itself, at the small stand of trees, under a moonless sky, listening, he stands, absolutely silent.   Eye of Cat by Roger Zelazny
    
8. The plump young man with the ginger hair caused something of a sensation as he entered the inn. It was not intentional.   Cyrion by Tanith Lee (actually, the Young Lady guessed this one, looking over my shoulder. She has an LJ, but declined to log in and answer online ...)
    
9. The people in this book might be going to have lived a long, long time from now in Northern California. - Always Coming Home by Ursula K. Le Guin, guessed by smillaraaq
    
10. The [ship's] small galley table was was awash in data printout, paperfaxes ringed and blotched with brown gfi-stains, arrowed, circled, crossed-out, and noted in red and green ink till they were beyond cryptic. - Chanur's Homecoming by C.J. Cherryh, guessed by theloomofmoira
     
11. The hills rolled up to the moon on slopes of wind-bent grass, crested, swept down into tangled brier shadows. - God Stalk by P.C. Hodgell, guessed by estara
     
12. It began one day in the summer about 30 years ago, and it happened to four children. - Half Magic by Edward Eager, guessed by flemmings

Happy hunting!

May your day be filled with joy and tasty goodies!

Wishing you a day filled with inspiration and good times with friends!

One last post before bed: this AAA-league ball girl is fantastic!

Be sure to watch the slo-mo replay.

(Thanks to my old friend Teri Knox on Facebook.)

ETA: I'm so sad!

This is the last batch for a while - I'm all caught up, finally!

Market Fair at Claude Moore Colonial Farm in Virginia (July 2009)
Slack rope dancer (on the ground) - with flaming torches!	Small girl at her parents' market stall	The Mr. tries his hand at a game

Maybe I'll take some more at the Ren Faire (which I hope we'll finally make next week).

Wishing you a day filled with love & good times!

(And I fail, because this is a day early ... .)