"Oh, I'm not doing this for the money. I'm just happy knowing that future generations will enjoy unspoiled median strips and pristine highway embankments." -Lisa Simpson

lisa!

lisa!, originally uploaded by jocelynb.

Will I pay $3 for a little Lisa Simpson toy from KFC? Oh yes, I will. She is one of my intellectual heroes. Now if only they had a Jorge Luis Borges toy I would be in luck. (It would come with the Surrealist Librarian Meal.)

If I stole a link from metafilter, does that make this meta-metafilter?

I got busy again.
That's what happened.

The problem with having a job you actually like, and where you have real things to do, is that it leaves less time for blogging. The advantage of having a job like this is being happier.

This is hilarious: You've been left behind, a website that will store subscribers' messages and then send them after the Rapture. Helpful! Perhaps I'll discuss it in an upcoming tech training session I'll be delivering. (Unfortunately, the Rapture will be considered to have occurred when 3 of the 5 developers fail to log in over a 3-day period. This kind of reminds of Homer Simpson's "Everything's OK alarm.")

I can't remember if I linked to this before, but sensible units is a fun conversion tool that converts normal units into killer whales, or football fields, or "average domestic cats."

Also, things that could easily be Facebook status updates:
I am recommitting myself to podcasts. If James ever gives me back my iPod.
I am volunteering for the Shakespeare Festival.
I am not buying anything from Etsy.
I am not completing my dailies, and thus will never get my epic flying mount.
I am being offered more contract work than I can do, or choose from.
I am up in arms about new Canadian intellectual property and copyright law and trade agreements, but what difference does that make? None.

Really Serendipitous Hobo-Drawing (RSHD)

Internet serendipity, including several of my favourite things: John Hodgman wrote the charming and wholly inaccurate book Areas of My Expertise. And when he recorded the audiobook version of that book's list of 700 hobo names (with musical accompaniment by the ever-fabulous Jonathan Coulton!), BoingBoing suggested that 700 artists should draw those hoboes. The result is The 700 Hoboes Project. Almost 1700 hoboes drawn to date!

Whew, typing all those a hrefs made me tired. Everybody take a five-minute break.

While I was researching this post*, a woman I don't know came to offer me some black licorice, claiming that it is "black licorice Friday." Sometimes it's weird, working here.

*Read: "Thinking about that Simpsons episode where Grandpa Simpson and Bart find the house with 'hobo graves in basement'"

VD Roundup!

Lovely, hi-res version of Ralph Wiggum's "I Choo-choo-choose you" Valentine.
Pamie does her usual yearly VD poems [I like the OCD ones]
Funny ecards from DieselSweeties

four things I am excited about at this moment

i. These hearts made from scrap industrial felt, from etcetera media. i just ordered some and i keep thinking of exciting things i could do with them. they'll probably just end up nailed to a wall though, like EVERYTHING does in my apartment. Online shopping at work is one of my favourie things, even though it often results in negative money (-$).

ii. My So-Called Life. I'm watching it for the first time right now (well, not RIGHT NOW because i'm at work) and it's better TV than almost any other TV--sophisticated, smart, funny, touching, sentimental without being crass. I find myself getting really attached to the characters, especially Angela's mom. It's not very often you see a real woman on TV, let alone someone's mom. I love how she's so smart and independent, and yet she can also be bitchy and needy. Sometimes she's wickedly funny and sometimes she's painfully uptight. In other words, she's like a real person-- not just a combination of stereotypical traits. I also love me some Brian Krakow, Ricky, and even Jordan Catalano. I mean, he's such a dummy, but then every once in awhile he'll do something so sweet and smart. He's exactly the kind of boy every heterosexual 15-year-old girl thinks she can love and fix and understand. He's the boy who breaks every heterosexual 15-year-old girl's heart too. Every time I see him some little part of me is like "OMG JORDAN CATALANO!!!!" (I also love how they always refer to him by his whole name, just like Veronica Mars.) Anyway, Jocelyn ♥s My So-Called Life. That is all.

iii. a provincial election! Since I started this job and have to read all this news every day, I have become much more of a political dork. I was already basically every other kind of dork, so this is a natural fit. Anyway, the election was called yesterday (the writ was DROPPED, yo), so that means 28 days of talking about how much we love families, communities, democracy, freedom, the environment, prosperity, and every other good thing. Actually, it's confusing, because ALL THE PARTIES LOVE THOSE THINGS. This election will be an interesting one too. A new political party formed to the right of the provincial conservatives! The conservatives have their lowest approval ratings in years! Former leader Ralph Klein lost his riding to a Liberal in a bi-election! Ed Stelmach has been spending money like it's going out of style! I doubt we will ever get a liberal majority in this province, but if we were ever close to a minority government, this is it. I'll be casting my vote with a feeling of gravity, although I'll also be voting the same way I always do. (Side note: actually, becoming more of a political dork is interesting because it hasn't changed my beliefs at all. It just means that I have more ammunition for them. It's nice to learn more about something and realize you were right about it even when you didn't really understand it. Heh.)

iv. work chili cook-off. The Emerging Technologies team has been pitted against the Technology Standards and Solutions team to see who will become the chili masters. Jobs may be on the line. I have no role in this event, other than the eating. And the judging. For the entire day, i will be saying to myself in my best Homer Simpson voice: "but the chilliiiiiiiii!"

Come here, poufy dog

A really tall guy just walked by my cubicle! That dog has a poufy tail!

SoPoMo

Simpsons scenes and their reference movies-- an amazing collection of shot-by-shot Simpsons references to films.

Simpson, Homer Simpson

Incroyable! An interactive flash map of Springfield, with stills from the show to demonstrate locations.

From the, town of Springfield, he's about to hit a chestnut tree

Vanity Fair has a Simpsons extravaganza in honour of the upcoming movie. Also featured is an interview with Conan O'Brien about his time as a staff writer for the show.

I think Mr. Burns was my favorite, because he had two qualities that are perfect if you're a comedy writer and want to have fun: he's infinitely old, and he has unlimited wealth. And he's evil. So, three. Those three qualities are great, because they allow you to create anything. A scene can open with him coming out of a hyperbaric chamber where he sleeps at night. He can have sinister robots. He can have a cavernous basement under his mansion. He can have a bat cave. There is literally nothing you can't do with Mr. Burns.

Linky Mondays--On Tuesday?!?

Earlier I mentioned that 7-Elevens are being converted to Kwik-E-Marts as advertising for the Simpsons movie. This Flickr photoset shows one of the converted stores. I'm sad because it is more obviously Simpsons-y than I had hoped it would be, and less cinema verite. I wanted to walk into one of these 7-Elevens and think, "Whoa, this is like being in a real-life Kwik-E-Mart," not, "Wow, this is like being in a giant commercial for the upcoming Simpsons movie." Simpsons movie: I'm watching you. And I'm wearing my "Worst Episode Ever" shirt.

A sad article about the state of Romanian zoos. Romania's entry into the EU has meant tougher regulations for zoos. My favourite part is the allegation that "less valuable zoo animals had been killed as food for more expensive reptiles." Stupid expensive reptiles! God loves all the animals, even the smaller lemurs and muskrats!

Joss Whedon, aka Jocelyn's TV Hero, is auctioning off a number of items for charity, including a dinner with him in San Diego during ComciCon. Described as "Three hours of intimate conversation, hilarious anecdotes and dark, awkwardly personal secrets." Hot. (Although, I'm not convinced that dinner with Joss Whedon would be that great an experience. I have never had any desire to meet celebrities, even the ones I really admire. I don't want them to sign things, or pose for pictures with me, or anything. Mainly, I want to watch the films and television shows they make in the comfort of my air-conditioned living room. Maybe I'm just not that kind of fan.) (The auctions support Equality Now, which advocates for women's rights. Again, hot.)

Today is Tuesday, but it's like an honourary Monday, because it was a long weekend. I like Canada Day. It reminds me of Canada. I also like July, because it is a three-paycheque month. However, I do not like Tuesday. It makes me uncomfortably hot. Also, I am engrossed in the third season of Arrested Development and the first season of Lost. Did I mention how air-conditioned my apartment is? Le sigh.

Depictions of grad students on The Simpsons

The source material might be a little sparse for an actual thesis, but I haven't given up hope...

Seriously, though, I made way more than $600 last year. $900, at least.

the website boingboing got to name an airplane, thanks to Virgin America CEO Richard Branson. Now, Unicorn Chaser is set to hit the skies. (The first Virgin America plane, Jefferson Airplane, was named by... you guessed it... Grace Slick.) See nameourplanes.com

This of course reminds me of the Simpsons where Mr. Burns decided to become a popular business owner like Richard Branson, leading to a semi-spontaneous conga line led my Mr. Smithers: "Conga conga conga! We love Monty Burns more! Conga like you mean it! Please don't make me shock you!"

Quick report on the state of The Simpsons movie

7-Elevens are ostensibly being converted into Kwik-E-Marts as marketing for the new Simpsons movie.