I want a Tesla Coil Christmas Tree!

I have a new addition to my household. :) She's adorable, fuzzy and named Carmen. I apologize for links instead of embedded pictures, but I have to get ready for work, and time that would have been spent resizing the pictures for LJ friendly viewing was spent fixing upload paths in my gallery install because Dreamhost moved my server and I hadn't uploaded anything since then. Now it is after work, and I can create thumbnails to do this properly. Here are pictures:

I am in lust.

I remember the first version of Das Keyboard that was $80. Mechanical switches and no markings to eventually wear off, a computer geek's wet dream. I wanted that version of Das Keyboard, even though I knew $80 was more than one really should be paying for a keyboard. Now the price is $129, and they offer a pansy version with markings on it for those who can't type or share their computer with people who can't. If I give in and spend more money than I can really justify on a keyboard, you can bet your ass that I will be getting the nice version without the markings. ^_^ At least they don't charge more for the version without the markings.

My last keyboard, a purple thing that gave me like six or seven years of service before it died from a bad wash job on my part, had easily half the keys worn enough that they no longer had any sort of marking on them, and another third worn to the point it was hard to read. After only a year or two of use, and only a small number of the letter keys worn to the hard to read point, I was intimidating people against using my computer simply because they couldn't read the keyboard and didn't know how to type correctly. Ha.

The keyboard I'm using now, an old IBM thing I'm technically borrowing from my mom's boyfriend...but he's not likely to need/want back since it's for an old Windows machine that was long ago retired and replaces by Apple machines, is starting to show the signs of a year or two of my use. There are keys that are all but completely worn of their marking, and more that are worn just enough to concern some people. The thing that is awesome about this keyboard, and probably the thing that will sell me on Das Keyboard whenever I do finally kill the IBM off, is that it has the mechanical switches in it. The extra depth of the key depressions is nice, the extra click behind each key stroke is a delight, even if it is coming at me through the sounds of Babyland, David Bowie, Heart, Led Zeppeling and whatever the frell else I'm listening to currently. The only thing I dislike about the IBM keyboard is that it's that horrible horrible beige that all computers were in the 90s. Das Keyboard is a nice sexy black.

I did enter a contest on Think Geek to celebrate their being around for 10 years, and if I do win one of the prize levels that include shopping sprees of various dollar amounts, I will have to get myself Das Keyboard. So sexy.

Ray Bradbury is one of my favorite authors, and this quote from him, which I read in an article in the NY Times (A Literary Ledgent Fights for a Local Library), has just endeared him to me that much more:

“Libraries raised me, I don’t believe in colleges and universities. I believe in libraries because most students don’t have any money. When I graduated from high school, it was during the Depression and we had no money. I couldn’t go to college, so I went to the library three days a week for 10 years.”

While I don't actually make much use of the library, instead electing to borrow books from friends, or spend what little spare cash I have on acquiring books to keep for my own, in a way building my own library, I understand the importance the library plays in the lives of people who either can't budget to buy their own books, or aren't privileged enough to be surrounded by people who also enjoy reading. Also, while my reasoning for lack of faith in the colleges and universities, I can agree with both his reasoning for lack of faith in them, as well as identify with the sentiment due to my own experiences.

Also mentioned in this article is his dislike of the internet. This makes me sad, as to some degree the internet serves the same role that libraries do, making information much more available to the masses. I can understand that it's sometimes hard to sort the signal from the noise, but the same problem can arise in the library too. I used to spend time in the Castro Valley library, when I was growing up, but it didn't take me long to get frustrated there as once I started looking for good science fiction, all of it was only available by transfer from other libraries, and most of what I was looking for was usually checked out from the other branches anyways. I didn't have the patience to wait for these books to come in, so I sought other sources for my reading material.

They're currently building a new library for Castro Valley, and so far the building looks pretty cool, so I may actually go check it out when it opens. Who knows, I may even start spending more time in the library again if their book selection has improved and expanded since I last gave them a chance. However, I am a lover of books. I don't like reading them and letting them go. I like collecting them. I like being able to go back and pick them up at random to find quotes, or to be able to hand them over to a friend to share the love, knowing that I'll get my book back having introduced it to someone new, and to have shared its knowledge.

I hope to one day eventually have a proper library room in whatever house I settle into long term. A comfortable room with big plush chairs, a nice window to let just the right amount of afternoon light in to read by, and floor to ceiling bookcases. Being the dork I am, there will likely be a library room computer, with a way to catalog all my books in it, possibly using a :cuecat as a barcode scanner.

So, since I did my Kubuntu 8.10 install, I've had a non-beta version of Amarok back. This has made me happy as there are things that they haven't added back into the beta that I'd missed being able to use, but they didn't make the stable version available in the KDE4 for 8.04. Also, I hadn't had the chance to play with the iPod using Amarok as drwho4 had given it to me after I'd made a full time switch to KDE4. Yeah, I'm apparently one in a very small number that actually likes KDE4. Go figure, I'm crazy or something. At any rate, the thing that caused me to comment on this detail now? Since I've gotten the stable version of Amarok back, it recognizes the iPod. Happy little Tomato shows up under devices and lets me see my music and playlists and crap. Also, it seems to submit my listening habits to last.fm. Shiny.

So, my Doctor Who loving dork of a boyfriend (and he seriously is a dork... he has a pinstriped hat of awesomeness that has ear flats that tuck up inside, and he's taken to having mutton chops), he will now be able to rock a pair of converse high tops like our dear tenth doctor. :) We're going to see Wicked at the Orpheum next month, and he's going to be all snazzy in fancy dress clothes and his cons. So awesome. :D I've got a pretty dress picked out and I just need to call customer service about the order, since I want to mostly pay for it using an American Express gift card I got for Christmas, but the online form doesn't want to allow multiple credit cards... and I gotta pay for the remaining balance somehow.

Oh, and speaking of Doctor Who flavored dorkitude... I just finished watching the two part episode to end the third season of the new Doctor Who, with the Master. I didn't catch the first time 'round that the Master was enjoying himself some Jelly Babies while waiting for the little cyber balls of doom (not using The Master's fanciful name, nor the spoilerific real name in case there's someone insane enough to have not watched yet). He even had the little wax paper bag for 'em and everything! I am sad though, Cost Plus had been carrying Jelly Babies for a while, but the one by my work didn't have 'em in stock early December, and when I asked about it, they told me they'd been brought in as a summer candy. They're not a seasonal candy, gorram it, I want Jelly Babies! Need to find a right and proper way to give the company feedback and make a point to get Doctor Who fans mobilized to make the company aware of the fanbase they could be catering to. Bonus points if they start carrying the proper bags to carry 'em in. :D

Also, it should be noted that I'm within one CD of having a right proper collection of Babyland music. Technically there are more CDs I can purchase, singles and EPs, but there is only one more full length album I don't yet own. I aim to pick that up the next time I hit one of their shows. This fact makes me a very happy little fangirl indeed. Also, I took drwho4 with me to their last show up here in the bay area, and he seemed to have had fun. He also ran into a couple coworkers, one of which was in one of the bands that went on before Babyland. Very shiny, and the band was good. I look forward to getting a CD when they finally release one. I did snag one of their promo CDs which they were giving away. The band's called Savi0r, and they have a myspace page. I won't link it, since it's a myspace, but it's easy to find if you're so inclined, their user name is the band's name.

"You want weapons? We're in a library! Books, best weapons in the world. This room is the greatest arsenal we could have. Arm yourself."