jenk

I haven't run the Windows debugger (or the Windows debug kernel) since I quit being paid to do so in 1999. But when I did, I made use of crib notes created by Raymond Chen, a Windows dev who also opened a wide variety if interesting and useful bugs.

A few days ago, Raymond reviewed the book Advanced Windows Debugging, stating that "Even the section with the "Oh come on every moron knows this already" title Basic Debugger Tasks has stuff that I didn't know."

Eep.

So if you're doing Windows programming and stepping through the code in the IDE isn't enough to figure out what's going on ... if you're dealing with, say, a deadlock or heap corruption ... this might be the book for you. :)

Current Mood: geeky

Coping with depression by baking 106 types of Martha Stewart cookies in 2 months. "All about the time I attempted to bake 106 different kinds of Martha Stewart holiday cookies in two months. People laughed and said I was crazy. Well, I was crazy."

The Martian Child, by David Gerrold. It's a funny and sweet story about a single dad adopting an eight-year-old. It's based on David's adoption of his son, so you get exchanges like:

"Did you read all these books?" The inevitable question of the nonreader.
"Even worse. I wrote all those books."
He gave me a look of disbelief. "Nuh-uh! No, you didn't!"

I've also been reading more fun mysteries. Most recently Sharon Kahn's series about Ruby, the Rabbi's wife. Actually, even in the first book she's a rabbi's widow - but everyone at the temple expects to act as if she still was a rabbi's wife, up to setting her up with the new rabbi. If you like comedic cozies, check it out.

On parallels between Death Eaters and Nazi Germany in the 30s and 40s:

I wanted Harry to leave our world and find exactly the same problems in the wizarding world. [...] People like to think themselves superior and that if they can pride themselves in nothing else they can pride themselves on perceived purity. So yeah that follows a parallel [to Nazi Germany]. It wasn't really exclusively that. I think you can see in the Ministry even before it's taken over, there are parallels to regimes we all know and love. [Laughter and applause.] So you ask what lessons, I suppose. The Potter books in general are a prolonged argument for tolerance, a prolonged plea for an end to bigotry, and I think it's one of the reasons that some people don't like the books, but I think that it's a very healthy message to pass on to younger people that you should question authority and you should not assume that the establishment or the press tells you all of the truth.

And ( spoiler for the 7th book )
- JK Rowling, from a transcript at The Leaky Cauldron

Current Mood: good

"For those who are walled up, everything is a wall . . . even an open door." in conveying this thought from the French poet René Char, I don't mean to imply that you're any more walled up than the rest of us, Taurus. My reason for mentioning it at this particular moment is to prod you into taking aggressive action to un-wall yourself in whatever ways you can. According to my reading of the omens, the cosmos will reward your efforts to topple facades that are obstructing your view and preventing you from being touched."
- Rob

"You shot through my anger and rage
To show me my prison was just an open cage
There were no keys no guards
Just one frightened man and some old shadows for bars"
- Living Proof

Current Mood: busy
Current Music: Bruce Springsteen, "Radio Nowhere"

A new hardcover edition of Random Walk is coming out, with a forward written by Spider Robinson (also available here). For the uninitiated, I'll excerpt Block's description of Random Walk on his website:

Tor, 1988. A bartender in Roseburg, Oregon, quits his job and walks across the Cascades. He keeps on walking, and other folks join in, and remarkable things happen. Meanwhile, a real estate guy in Kansas starts driving around the Midwest, killing young women at an astonishing pace. This is a book that some people don't get at all, while others tell me they read it seventeen times and it changed their lives.

The book is a blend of thriller, self-discovery and what if?, served on a bed of deceptively readable prose, with a touch of woo-woo on top :)

I think the book is well worth a read, though not necessarily worth buying a signed-by-Larry-and-Spider $100 hardback. But then again, maaaaaybe it is. We'll see.

Current Mood: cheerful

I believe, in fact, that what some parents and adults find most threatening about the Potter series [is] Rowling's willingness to deal with the truth that adults in children's lives can sometimes be unthinking, authoritarian, and even evil. The best books always have raised questions about the status quo — and are the most threatening to censors who want to control what young persons read and think about. Like the tyrannical Defense Against Dark Arts Professor Dolores Umbridge, who insisted on providing a "risk-free" education to the young wizards at Hogwarts, they would limit education and information to facts so incontestable that they arouse no controversy at any level, thereby leaving young people unequipped to think about and address larger questions about the nature of our society.
— Judith Krug, director of the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom

Current Mood: thoughtful

From the Harry Dresden book-before-last:

The room wasn't a big one — maybe the size of a large elementary-school classroom. There was a raised platform about a foot high at one end, with chairs on it behind a long table. More chairs faced it in rows. A sign, now discarded on the floor behind the door, declared that the room was scheduled for something called "filking" between noon and five o'clock today. "Filking" sounded suspiciously like it might be an activity somehow related to spawning salmon, or maybe some kind of bizarre mammalian discussion. I decided that it was probably one of those things I was happier not knowing.

Harry spends much of this book at a horror con. Somehow I think Jim Butcher knows all about filking ... hence the fun description ;)

(Yes,

byrdie, we finally read them ;)

Current Mood: amused
Current Music: "American Land", Bruce Springsteen

Her books were a large part of why I am still a Christian; her writings about faith and the church are a large part of why I became Episcopalian.

Good-bye and Godspeed, Madeleine.

( news articles )

Current Mood: sad

[about Madame de Pompadour]
Rose: The Queen must have loved her.

Doctor: Oh, she did. They got on very well.

Mickey: What, the King's wife and the King's girlfriend?

Doctor: France. It's a different planet.

- From Doctor Who 2.4, "The Girl in the Fireplace", by Steven Moffat.

I liked Ben Stein's response to the subprime mortgage thing, but Free Money Finance puts it more bluntly:

The market is a herd of lemmings following one another up in good times and down in bad times. Lately, there's been so much negative press about the housing crisis that everyone's saying the bottom's falling out. And when everyone begins to act on this information, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. But the basic, fundamental value of most of the S&P 500 stocks has changed very little in the past few months. Yeah, they may take a hit for awhile, but when the tide turns and the lemmings start to say things are all better again, they'll skyrocket.

Woz got a ticket for going 104mph in his Prius. "He does he not recommend those speeds -- his 55 miles per gallon dropped to between 31 and 37 miles per gallon at 104 miles per hour."

Current Mood: amused

Okay, I admit I don't get audiobooks. I've tried listening to them; I get bored and start looking for something to read. AKA, they are way slow. And boring. Because they do not hold my attention. At. All.

That said, I was a bit surprised to see an article on how unabridged audiobooks are looked down on in some book clubs. Hm.

But what really surprises me is that listening is perceived as faster than reading.

Okay, now I'm confused. I read Potter 7 in less than eight hours, total time. Ditto Potter 6 and 5. Do people honestly listen to 17-CD audiobooks in that kind of time? Or do I read faster than normal? Or are audiobooks perceived as faster because multitasking is easier? What?

Current Mood: confused

Good: Friday.
Bad: Felt sick all day, left work early.
Good: Felt better Friday night.

Good: Harry Potter 7 arrived.
Bad: Not til 4pm.
Good: Finished HP (thanks

jw1776,

skydancer &

dianthus for letting me ignore them)...

FYI for others who've finished, Jo Rowling explains some more about what happens to the survivors after the books at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19959323/ and http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19935372/.

(Comments screened to avoid spoiling)

Current Mood: content

"Not since George Bush decided to invade Iraq over weapons of mass destruction has the world been so engrossed with a fantasy story."

(I got it from

dot_cattiness....)

And no, I don't have it yet. I decided to be a purist, so I'm waiting for my copy to make it across the Atlantic.

Current Mood: amused
Current Music: Indigo Girls, "Chickenman"

"I had one letter from a vicar in England -- this is the difference -- saying would I please not put Christmas trees at Hogwarts as it was clearly a pagan society. Meanwhile, I'm having death threats when I'm on tour in America."
- J.K. Rowling

Death threats.

Over a fantasy book series.

Some people need to get some perspective.

Current Mood: bitchy
Current Music: Gaia Consort, "No Shadows"

theferrett reviews webcomics on Fridays. Today's review is Jesus & Mo. Jesus & Mohammed, rooming together - but that's not the real blasphemy ... It's also fun when Moses comes to visit. Altho some of the puns are scary, the use of logic is superb.

I like the atheist bartender too, and not just because of the civil union/surrogate mother thing.

It's no Finding Home, but it's good.

Current Mood: amused

I think I remember being almost this scared in high school. We've seen before how Branch is not the most socialized creature on the planet, but hey, if Karla could stop being weird, there's hope for Branch too, right?

Gagh. Generally I identify with Karla now, but there are days....

On a related note, Home On The Strange is not only a fun webcomic filled with the stuff of my everyday nerdgirl life but the script for each strip is included at the bottom of each page. So I can enjoy seeing how Roni translates the scripts into visuals, and also note the few times that the dialog changes between the script and the finished strip. And in the meantime, the image-impaired can still read the strip if they want. :)

Current Mood: amused

It's definitely spring. I'm frequently doubling my daily antihistamine dose. I also have more energy and feel like Doing Things occasionally instead of hiding in the house ignoring all my friends. (And a big thank you to the ones who stay in touch even when I'm hibernating).

I've even been gardening a bit, though nowhere near as much as

jw1776. No pictures to post tho. May need to do something about that.

-o-

I had a touch of ... not really sunburn, but redness ... last weekend. Despite sunscreen.

-o-

We now have red curtains in our home library. The old curtains were a dark rust color with beige wheat stalks on them. They have button tab tops that are currently (mostly) attached to wooden hoops for ease, but can be used without the hoops. They are also available to anyone who wants 'em ... 4 panels about 55" x 80", 100% cotton, machine wash, originally from Ikea.

-o-

Oh, and this couch is on order for our library. It's on order because we want it in brown. We could have gotten the green right away, but ... um ... NO.

-o-

I'm becoming happier with fluorescent lights. The tricks appear to be:

Don't expect them to look like incandescent. It's not just tone, it's brightness. A "looks like 60-watt" fluorescent is often just that little bit brighter than a 60-watt incandescent. A hallway with 3 recessed overhead lights should be all one type of bulb. Putting in one 60-watt fluorescent or one 60-watt incandescent is going to look "off". (Our downstairs hallway drove me nuts for months. I finally noticed the middle bulb was incandescent...replaced it with a fluorescent to match the other two and OMG I'm actually turning them on now!)
Think about the type of light you want. Our home library is a big room with a cathedral ceiling. We have uplights for general room light, but task lights - reading lights - have been a struggle. At the moment, I brightened the overall lighting by putting in "daylight" fluorescents. Are they true daylight? No. Do they mimic "grow-bulbs"? Not quite, but close. Would they make me nuts as the only lights in the room? Oh yeah. But having them in the uplights, with other smaller lights for balance - that works.

And on a similar note,
Not in my "makeup" (bathroom) mirror. Not yet.

-o-

I've been using the county library. Partly because I can search for a book on http://www.kcls.org, place it on "hold", and have it delivered to my local library ~ which means books at Burien, Bothell, and Federal Way are just as accessible as our own. Partly because our shelves are mostly full, which makes me less likely to take a risk on buying a new book. And partly because books that are on the expensive side are often readily available through the library ;) Of course, Amazon still comes up with cool recommendations and more details on many books that the library site. So I flip between the two quite a bit...

-o-

Started yoga class again, since I don't keep it up as well without the class boost. I was already flexible, but it's interesting to see my balance improve.

-o-

jw1776 and I are joking about a ceremonial viewing of The Seven Year Itch for our anniversary in August ;)

Current Mood: chipper

I knew chlorinated water - and especially in HOT hot tubs, where I'm sweating a lot - could irritate my eyes, but this gives a reason:

The chlorine "reacts chemically with nitrogen-containing sweat, saliva, and urine (yes, that too) that comes from the bathers themselves. The products of the reactions, called chloramines, are quite irritating to the eyes and the respiratory tract."

And here I'd thought it was the salt in my sweat + chlorine fumes that made me blind...

From

ipstp, the PDF CC version of Blood, Sweat and Tea: real-life stories from the London Ambulance Service.

Accent meme: ( Sounds like Seattle, though it's not specifically named )

Soul: ( Ummmm )

Green: ( I think this isn't handicapped for the Northwet )

Current Mood: amused
Current Music: Billy Joel "River of Dreams"

lisakit posted a question about "The Secret". My reply noted the sort of folks I thought it was targeting (hint: have disposable income*) ~ but that for someone whose life is really not working, more practical advice would likely be more useful.

Some books I came up with for examples were:

Leaving Home Survival Guide. Finding an apartment, fixing it up, cleaning it, negotiating with landlords, roommates, bosses, coworkers, and the government, and a few kitchen basics.
Everything Women Always Wanted to Know About Cars (But Didn't Know Who To Ask). What's really up under the hood, how to check the fluids & change the oil - and why those are useful things.
Real Life 101: A Guide To Stuff That Actually Matters. I was looking for another "basic life skills", and this one includes finding a job, an apartment, health care, transportation, and so on.
Job Hunting for Dummies. If you what you've done in the past isn't working for you, it doesn't hurt to try....
Cooking Basics for Dummies. The goal is to learn enough that you can eat in without giving yourself scurvy or ptomaine poisoning.
Personal Finance for Dummies. Figuring out what you have, what to do with it, and how to take care of it. (This book was my main guide for getting out of debt, actually.)
Unofficial Guide to Beating Debt. This gets more in detail on dealing with debt - including negotiating with creditors and when (and when not) to go through bankruptcy.
Spend Well, Live Rich: How to Get What You Want with the Money You Have. It's all about using your head. On clothes: "If it's on your ass, it's not an asset!" On dating: "It's okay to say: 'Honey, I love you and everything, but if you need money, ask your mama.'" In general: "Is this a need or is it a want?" and "Enough is enough."
The Complete Tightwad Gazette. The tagline of the newsletter was "Promoting thrift as a viable alternative lifestyle", but it's really about cutting down where you want to so that you can splurge on the things you really want - in the author's case, a big, old-fashioned house with attached barn and six kids.

Moving a bit up Maslow's heirarchy, there's:

The Good Vibrations Guide to Sex. From anatomy, communication, & masturbation to outercourse & intercourse to fantasies & bdsm, this book covers the stuff that should be taught everywhere.
Women and the Blues as a general help-me-get-unstuck book.
For pregnancy and motherhood, I'd suggest the Girlfriends' Guide series.

I've read most of these; the others (3, 4, 5, & 7) look good from Amazon's info. Any thoughts on other books along this line? What would you give to someone moving out on her own, or want to throw at your unemployable cousin, or have helped you to get yourself together?

*Enough to buy a book. Doesn't need to be more.

Current Mood: curious

So I picked up Murder Under A Mystic Moon at Stargazers yesterday and finished it last night. Today I hop onto http://www.powells.com to order a few more by the author... and while I'm at it, I start thinking "did I order ___ from Amazon or not?" So I go over to http://www.amazon.com to check some old orders. And I check out the recommendations, which includes one I want (all Sayer's stories, including the Montague Eggs) and I look to see if it's at Powell's. Which is isn't. Oh, and there's some books I'd added to my cart at Amazon to preorder...

And so I end up placing a $30 order for 5 used books at Powell's( * ) AND a $50 order for 4 new books at Amazon( * ) Ah, me.

**Where did that phrase come from?

Current Mood: chagrined

People look at me funny when I mention my book club.

Maybe it's because I call it "Lord Peter" or "the Lord Peter list". It is a mailing list, yes. Or rather, it's a book club that meets in email, centered on the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries set in Britain from 1922 through the early 1940s.
Naturally, being a mailing list, we discourse on many related topics, including the life of author — and Oxford grad, copywriter, novelist, essayist, playwright, translator, etc — Dorothy Sayers; Britain during the period; shell-shock; even change-ringing. But the heart of the "club" is when we read through all the books, one book a month, and discuss them. It's partly that different people see different things on re-read. It's also that the folks on the list all have different experiences to add. It's cool to discuss the book set at Oxford University with Oxford grads. The change-ringers on the list help a lot when we get to that book. And so on.

So, yes, I have a book club. Y'all are welcome to drop by if you want - we're reading Clouds of Witness this month.

Current Mood: good

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jenk

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Entries tagged with read

Niche market, but useful for that niche

Things to read

Quotable Jo Rowling :)

Walls

Random Walk

Harry Potter QOTD

"filking"

Madeleine L'Engle is dead at 88.

stir-fried random

I don't get it

good / bad friday

Sydney Morning Herald, regarding Harry Potter 7

Why America Needs to Grow Up

Jesus & Mo

Oy. Dunno if I was THIS bad, but...

Stuff that's been up

links & memes

Life Skills

ye gods & little fishes....**

my book club