Below are the most recent 20 friends' journal entries.

Friday, November 13th, 2009
smittythehobbit	11:00a	Consolidated To-Do List :D Finish Assignment #8 Final individual presentation ... -_- Plan out parser for work -- get proposal to send in to Darren Start in on command parser code Start on Assignment #9 Slides for campus pitch At least two pages of body for proposal Make some fabric tape for fun :) Clean room some more XD Ai ya Green roofing research Some simple sewing :D Set up some surprise mailers New running shoes The Host Catch up with organization workshops more photo frame stuff post puppy pictures clean office Finish up Peggy's birthday present Paint clothespins Star Wars desktop for Tasia Fleece scarf Drop things off at Goodwill Finish 5 * 9 stripes ... Brochure for pitch Model for pitch Clean backpack (Comment on this)
Thursday, November 12th, 2009
smittythehobbit	11:15p	Etsy Updates~ Time for some more fun stores to look at! One of the other things I spend a lot of time on etsy looking at is cute prints and photos. Obviously, there's only so many you can actually put up on your wall .. but that doesn't seem to stop me from browsing and browsing and browsing. :P This list got so long, I decided to do printed greeting cards another time. :P Man, I think I shop on etsy a little too much. In my defense, I don't buy even 2/3rds of the things I look at. I just favorite them. :D Fine Art and Photography Stores I really love these prints by yumi yumi. They're just the right mixture of whimsical and elegant. Also, I love her color choices (and I only accidently managed to pick two complementary prints. She uses a lot of pinks, purples, and greens as well) I've bought two of her prints for my office. I'm a little embarrassed how cute I think these Berkley Illustration prints are. I want the Station Master rat one. *hint hint* :P My dad makes fun of me for liking these kinds of photographs because they look like the default ones you get with a picture frame. But I think they're charming. Steven Leary's little water color pencil prints are so cute. He has many more cat related prints ... and if I were actually going to purchase some, I'd have a hard time narrowing it down. I'm sure it's like having too many actual cats, eventually you become that crazy cat lady. But, I love his style and attention to detail. They're so simple but so well done. :) I love that mouse in the motorboat one. Ha ha. I like these prints so much, I ended up buying them as greeting cards and using those as prints, just so I could afford them. It wasn't until writing this entry that I realized how much of a thing I must have for bicycles. Considering I never ride mine, that's unexpected .. but maybe if I lived somewhere a little more bike friendly, I'd ride more. :) Anyway, lovely color schemes .. and I like how the road beside the mail box seems to go on forever. They both evoke a sense of possibility and future activity. I love it! Too cute! I love these animal prints. Some of them are so whacky. The only reason I haven't bought any is that she ships from New Zealand and the shipping is as much as a print. Eep! Hope you liked these shops, too. Of course, all the prints are property of their respective shops. I'm just doing some friendly free advertising. :P Click on the stores' headings to get taken to their etsy pages. :P (1 Comment |Comment on this)
kitty_tape	9:02p	Thanksmas! It is the holiday season, which means Thanksmas is coming again! Yes, the traditional holiday returns for the second year! If you missed Thanksmas last year, or want a refresher, here's the info: instead of Game Day in December, we have a big holiday party -- this does not mean there won't be games played, but the focus is a bit different. We'll host a potluck holiday meal, followed by a gift exchange. There will also be Thanksmas carols, and probably other kinds of fun. It will be on December 12th (the second Saturday of December), starting at 2PM. Since this is a big event, we would like a more definite list of people who will be attending than a normal Game Day; at which point we'll figure out what dishes everyone wants to bring. Please RSVP by December 1st if you will be coming (and let us know if you'll be bringing anyone with you). The gift exchange should be a nice/fun/good gift around $20 in value -- something you would like yourself, or something you have that is so awesome you want to share it with others. If you are having trouble thinking of something, remember that this is a geeky & gamer crowd -- popular gifts last year were Xbox Live points, a set of dice (4d-20d), and a chess set. Make sure the gift is wrapped, so it is a surprise to the first person to open it (rules TBD). If you have questions/comments/clarifications/etc., please let us know. Hope to see you there! Jeff & Erika (5 Comments |Comment on this)
kitty_tape	2:38p	I realized something this evening. Every atheist and, I suspect, most theists recognize the invalidity of statements of the form, "If there is no God, everything is permitted." (this phrasing, according to the internet, incorrectly attributed, to Dostoevsky). However, I was always confused by the people who thought it was valid. But then I realized that the world view they bring to their interpretation differs fundamentally from mine. These folks are, I believe, taking approximately the following viewpoint: "I know God exists. God is the source of our moral system. If God were removed from this system, then our morals would disappear." I and at least some others who reject the validity of the statement are coming from a different point of view. "Regardless of God's existence, we observe morality in the world. There are inconsistencies from culture to culture and time to time, but there are also consistencies. Thus, we can conclude that whether or not God exists, morality of some sort exists relative to human societies." In short, the key difference, I propose, is that people, like me, who disagree with with the validity of statements like "If there is no God, everything is permitted" are actually disagreeing with the statement "If there is no God and the world is as it is, everything is permitted". Those who disagree, I propose, do not consider that conjunction to be a reasonable antecedent. Another possibility is a different interpretation of the word "permitted". If there is no God, then everything is permitted in the sense that there is no absolute authority figure to disallow it, but it everything is not permitted relative to the complex interaction between culture and society and history personal experience. As an aside, I have always felt that the statement "If there is no God, everything is permitted" would, if believed literally, indicate a rather bleak and disturbing world view. In particular, if someone really believed that, it would follow that they personally would start lying, cheating, stealing, etc. as convenient if they were to be convinced no God. My reasoning behind making that claim is as follows. Suppose that someone were to claim that they would still behave morally under all conditions (hard even in the best of times, but this is hypothetical) even if they were to become really truly convinced there is no God (this is, I am well aware, a supposition that some theists cannot even hold hypothetically). What then, I would ask them, is the reason behind behavior according to your past moral system? Either they hold their morals independently of their belief in God, in which case, they do not actually believe the initial statement, or they no longer have those morals, in which case they may very well start doing bad things if it suits them. I intentionally say, "if it suits them" because I believe that, in practice, even if someone were to actually believe this, habit would influence their actual beliefs regardless of what they might now consider themselves willing to do should the need arise. (10 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009
smittythehobbit	11:43p	Yikes I have 15 minutes to post before it doesn't count for today!!  Hmmmm .... Today, I was playing with my other other cat (i.e., my neighbor's cat) and she got her claws caught in my sweatshirt AGAIN!  And when I backed away so she'd get off, she just climbed up with all four paws and tried to head butt me ... All four sets of claws caught in my sweatshirt And she's a little bite-y ... It was funny and a little scary all at the same time.  (Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009
smittythehobbit	1:52p	To Do 11/10 I knew I'd find a use for my livejournal~~ :D Feedback Memo for my Compare/Contrast presentation Feedback Memo for Kanu's Compare/Contrast presentation Meeting leader feedback report for Meeting #1 Minutes and status report for Meeting #3 Start on Assignment #8 Final individual presentation ... -_- Plan out parser for work -- get proposal to send in to Darren Start in on command parser code 9 stripes :O Remember to put together my gym clothes for tomorrow Put together week late Halloween package XD ha ha ha Edit: Start on Assignment #9 Slides for campus pitch At least two pages of body for proposal Make some fabric tape for fun :) Clean room some more XD Ai ya See other lists (Comment on this)
sillygoosegirl	10:39a	Man, I feel like such a junkie. Spaced out a lot. Popping pills all the time. Not getting my work done. Etc. See, there are worse things than the flu. I'm going to get better one day soon. And I'm not going to need to go to rehab. And I don't need to worry about getting arrested. Swell. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, November 9th, 2009
smittythehobbit	11:58p	Bright Star After seeing this blog entry, I want to see the movie Bright Star now ~~  Period costuming~~ ooOOOoooo :P (Comment on this)
smittythehobbit	8:23a	December To-Do I'm really looking forward to my month off from school.  I keep thinking of more and more things I want to finish up in that time.  Ha ha.  So, my vacation time to-do list is : Paint my room and closet!!   Make a new bedside table Buy a new laptop Fix or replace my second bookcase Finish my Hey Teach! sweater Finish my rainbow scarf Redecorate my office at work Finish organizing my different areas around the house Finish all my in-progress sewing projects Knit my LOTR scarf for my brother Make a charging station for all my electronic toys Make good progress on my scrapbook Donate all my old religious magazines.  (They hand them out at prisons) Put up some hooks by the door Decorate my room post-paint -- what do I want to do???  I have too many ideas XD Paint my desk Mail all my holiday cards and presents on time for the season XD Get plenty of rest :) Decorate a gingerbread house!! Take a class or workshop at Joann's but I don't know what yet ... Finish some projects for the Martha Stewart Holiday Workshop!  Check some items off my 101 list  XD  <-- stagnating ... Go to Disneyland (Comment on this)
Sunday, November 8th, 2009
smittythehobbit	4:35p	Verdi's Reqiuem @ the Disney Concert Hall I'm entertaining myself on the bus back to school from the hall. Hopefully, busily updating my journal will distract me from the Einstein behind me. Today, the cultural/arts initiative on campus organized a free field trip to the hall to see Dudamel conduct. I've never been to the Disney hall before so I was really excited. :) I really enjoyed the concert. I know Dudamel is known for his energic style but it was fun watching him jump up and on the conductor's podium. He he. Also, I thought it was a very moving rendition of the requiem. The soloists were very good, especially the women. (Not sexist at all). I have to admit I found the choir's glittering dresses mesmerizing and I zoned out a couple of times. Not quite a member of the educated elite yet :p Also, I decided from the program that I want to go see the Lion King musical in Las Vegas. And whatever else I can schedule into a long weekend :p. Any takers?? Posted via LiveJournal.app. (Comment on this)
Saturday, November 7th, 2009
smittythehobbit	11:30p	Robin Hood I love Robin Hood.  I don't know if anyone else has seen this but BBC has a "new", updated Robin Hood series.  I don't usually like updated versions of my favorite childhood characters (I think the new Robert Downey Jr. Sherlock Holmes will be a good adventure film but I don't think I'll like it as a retelling of Sherlock Holmes .... ) but!  I really like this Robin Hood.  It feels more authentic and less "Hollywood".  (Of course, the BBC isn't Hollywood, but you know what I mean :P ) Jonas Armstrong as Robin Hood I really like the actress for Maid Marion.  Also, the costuming is really well done.  :)  Watch it~~ :P I'm too lazy to find a good picture but I think the guy second from the right is cute. :P (1 Comment |Comment on this)
kitty_tape	9:00p	It all depends on your point of view Once again I encountered an attitude that always surprises me. I was accused of attacking the Bible when I said that it contains events that, from my external point of view, can only be described as deity approved horrors. Yet this same individual did not consider it an attack when they said that someday I would be forced to kneel before God and would go to hell or when they said that loving, committed, same-sex relationships are an affront on morality. To some degree, all humans fall prey to the bias of their own perspective. Both of us considered ourselves to be making statements which, from our own point of view, fall under the category of painful truths, not attacks. Yet I have found that some Christians (not all) quickly jump to the conclusion that atheists are on the offensive when they say anything less than complimentary about religion. They assume that a very specific comment has a very general meaning. Often, these same Christians then go on to say things as bad or worse than what was said to them, but they do not see themselves as attacking and claim innocence if their statements are pointed out. An much smaller subset turns this into a persecution complex. These are people who really believe there is a war on Christmas. They truly believe that they are like the early Christians and society is trying to crush them out of existence. When you point out that Christians are the vast majority in this nation, they claim that most of those people are not "real Christians" (I always imagine that followed by a trademark symbol). Fortunately, these people, despite their prevalence on the internet, are a small group. In the end, this biased perspective no longer makes me feel angry or hurt or insulted. But it has become tiresome. ETA: Apparently, 24% of Evangelical Christians (the single largest religious group in the US) feel like they are part of a religious minority. (5 Comments |Comment on this)
kitty_tape	1:09p	Game day is next Saturday, November 14! Please let us know if you think you might make it. Within the next couple weeks we'll start organizing Thanksmas. Mark your calendars! (7 Comments |Comment on this)
kitty_tape	10:34a	Finished "Some Place LIke Home", 3/5 ( Finished Some Place Like Home, 3/5 ) (Comment on this)
Friday, November 6th, 2009
smittythehobbit	11:23a	This Weekend Catchup 11/7 Wow, I never do half the things on my lists but I like making them.  :P HW 7 & 8 for web technologies  Catch up in ENGR501 Green roofing research Find my remote ID :O Re-organize my craft shelves Some simple sewing :D Christmas wrapping supplies Set up some surprise mailers Walkathon on Saturday Stairs with Lisa New running shoes Verdi's Requiem on Sunday Finish up some knitting The Host Mike's birthday Remember to blog~ Catch up with organization workshops See other lists. (Comment on this)
Thursday, November 5th, 2009
smittythehobbit	6:31p	Blogarific I think I'll just blog about my favorite things for awhile until I can think of "important" things to say :P  So: My favorite Etsy stores for FABRIC:     This store does both Japanese import as well as designer fabrics.  I've bought both from here but I tend to stay away from designer fabrics because they are so much more expensive and I can't really tell the difference.  (Although, if someone sent me a package of Amy Butler designs, I would not complain~~ Hint~~)  I haven't bought the sheep fabric below but I'm thinking about it now ....      Karaku Style has a nice variety of more traditional Japanese fabrics as well as kookier modern fabrics.  I've generally only bought the traditional fabrics from there.  Also, I have to say that I can never think of what to do with the fabrics I've bought because they're too pretty for just anything.  Ha ha       Sweet Flavor I love.  I'm on the mailing list for this shop and everything.  She has a nice variety of sizes and all the fabrics she sells are in my aesthetic (i.e., cute and with flowers or animals.  I'm not deep).  Also, she sells cute sewing accessories, like fabric tapes and buttons.           I love this store.  The fabric is always so cute.  I have more trouble deciding what I don't want to buy than picking things I want.  I've only ever gotten a few big expensive pieces from here but I drool over fabric here all the time.       I'm on the mailing list for cottonblue as well.  She has a big selection of linen fabrics, which are good for Japanese style "zakka" crafting.  Linen is thicker and a little bit sturdier than cotton so it's good for totes and bags.           I've never actually bought anything from this store because I found it after it was decided I'm not allowed to buy fabric anymore ... I am, however, really tempted by the cat fabric on the right ... Her fabrics are a little pricy but not too bad.  When I went to Japan this summer, I realized that the online prices for imported fabric aren't actually that much more expensive than what you're paying in the stores.  It's still an indulgence though :P          Well, now you know what I'm looking at when I say I'm on etsy.  All the pictures and logos come from the stores themselves.  Clicking on the logo will take you to the store front.  :)  You should check them out!  Even if you don't sew, Japanese fabric is too cute not to browse :)   (Comment on this)
Wednesday, November 4th, 2009
smittythehobbit	6:46p	Cosplay I really like the idea of cosplay: I like making clothes and I often like historical or costume outfits...  But, there's just no where to wear cosplay outfits to .. I mean, you can go to conventions but that's, for me, a couple months of work to get to wear a carefully crafted outfit for 6 hours, tops.  What a waste of effort.  I've been thinking of how I can make cosplay outfits that I can actually wear.  It'd be a fun design challenge, I think.  :)  Stay tuned~~ Also, I'm going to try to fulfill my "updating everyday for a year" starting now :D   We'll see how well I can do at it... I'm too busy to really update like a "professional" blog but I'm always going to be too busy ... Stay tuned :D  (Comment on this)
kitty_tape	4:05p	You know you've forgotten high school/early college when you are reading a resume and see reference to a scholarship and think, "That looks kind of familiar. Did I get that scholarship?" (Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009
katmerlin	10:08a	Washington - Reminder: Voter Ballots need to be postmarked today. Referendum 71 is pro gay rights. It was already passed by the legislature and so anti-gay groups petitioned to get it on the ballot to get voters to reject it. (Confusing at first to see anti groups attempting to get on the ballot something they are against. I'm pro gay rights and was trying to figure out how Ref71 could possibly be anti.) Context Referendum 71 Although the outcome of the vote is the current point of interest, I find the signature disclosure debate Marcy brought up more interesting. Probably because my opinion is less clear cut. Basically a pro-gay group wants to post all the names of the petition signers on the internet. As I understand it, currently petition signatures are public domain, but generally most people wouldn't bother to look at them. 1 Unrelated, random: Scwarzenegger Context Please notify me ASAP of any errors herein. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, November 2nd, 2009
smittythehobbit	8:58p	La la la It's Monday, worst day of the week.  I'm glad it's almost over. :P  I try to do my work, I really do.  But all I can really think about is crafting!  All day, I think about what I can do with my leftover fabrics or whether or not it'd be easy to pick up the ribbon I want from just Joann's.  It's getting to be an unholy obsession.   I wish I had a couple of clones ... and then we could split all the work I have to do and all the hobbies I want to do between each other ... and live happily ever after in awesome :D    But alas, technology hasn't caught up with my needs.  :(  What do I do instead?!?  No idea :P  So I shall just list here~~ I'm really behind on my knitting.  I still haven't finished my cardigan from this summer.. It's weighing heavily on my conscious :P Also, I want to make some bias tape with my scraps.  And some cute totes.  I wish my head wasn't so big.  No "one size fits all" hat size fits me.  (Comment on this)