Those Personal Triumphs No One Else Will Ever Understand

[Dr. Mobius]

Everyone gave up trying to pronounce that gobbledegook years ago and shortened it to EL.

[Jayelle]

Everyone gave up trying to pronounce that gobbledegook years ago and shortened it to EL.

True story.

She giggled pretty hard at my pronunciation in person.

[Tiny genius]

Glad that's sorted out .
Here's something that's not really a triumph but a sort of milestone: I walked into my room and had to DOUBLE-CHECK if the light was off and the room was dark! (No valid emoticon/NVE)

[Eaquae Legit]

I giggle pretty hard at everyone. I think Rei is the only one who consistently gets it right, because Rei is also a Latin nerd.

EE-ah KWAI leg-IT, more or less.

And my pancakes were the result of patience. I heated up my cast-iron tava, then turned it down to medium. I poured one pancake at a time, out of a measuring cup. I'm still very proud.

[Young Val]

Handed in my resignation! Things like that often scare me (no exception here), so hooray!

[Rei]

I giggle pretty hard at everyone. I think Rei is the only one who consistently gets it right, because Rei is also a Latin nerd.

EE-ah KWAI leg-IT, more or less.

EH-ah KWAI LE-git. Or /'ea 'kwae 'le-git/ if you favour IPA.


...I may also have a degree in linguistics.

[Edit: After debating this a further few minutes, I was reminded that 'quae' is not the enclitic which the spelling brought to mind, but in fact a separate word and receives its own stress.]

[Luet]

I woke up at 6:45am (I usually sleep until after 8, at least) to go birding, despite getting my period today (sorry, pretend that part was in the Girly Thread). I walked for over 4 hours and 2-3 miles and got FIVE new birds!! And that is on top of the three that I got this weekend. Woo hoo!

[steph]

Cool, Nom!

[Tiny genius]

Let the birds go, Luet. They're pining for the fjords.

And EL, I don't care how much patience it takes, my pancakes will never turn out right. One at a time has nothing to do with it, I mangle them one at a time. I could sit there and meditate and learn aalti and the divine art of pancakery and at the end of it I still wouldn't know a) how to make round pancakes without using a circle thingemy except by fluke and b) what the secret pancake dimension they get twisted in is.

It just doesn't happen for me, weird but there you have it.

On a slightly more triumphant note I finished my LSDish trilogy today.

[Luet]

I'm not sure if you were joking or not, TG. But by "got" I don't mean I captured or bought any birds. I mean that I got pictures of new (for me) birds, in the wild. I'm a birder, aka, bird nerd.

[KennEnder]

I'm not sure if you were joking or not, TG. But by "got" I don't mean I captured or bought any birds. I mean that I got pictures of new (for me) birds, in the wild. I'm a birder, aka, bird nerd.

So really, you're not the "Lizard Lady" that you purport to be, but rather a "Bird Lady" / "Bird Nerd" (extraordinaire).

"Birdie, birdie, in the sky;
drop a whitewash in my eye;
I'm a big boy, I won't cry;
I'm just glad that cows don't fly!"

sounds like fun, Nom. I'll be going on a safari this summer (might see a few birds, as well as other creatures I'm too terrified to think about at the moment) ... any recommendations for a decent but not overly expensive camera setup?

[Luet]

Yeah, I guess it's time to change my title. It used to be Hawk Stalker because the Red-tailed Hawk is what got me into birding. Then I changed to Lizard Lady because I do have two lizards and Pheeny (the bearded dragon) is my baby.

As far as cameras, if you mean a DSLR, what I have is a Canon T1i with the standard lens of 18-55m and then a zoom lens of 70-250mm. I got it used on Craigslist for $600, which was a lot for me to spend but I needed a "real" camera for birding. You can get the newest model T3i with the two lenses on sale at best buy or the like for around $900. But the newest model doesn't have anything that I needed (movable LCD screen, gps). Anyway, I did a bunch of research and there are a lot of great cameras out there but I settled on this. Also, this is considered the "low" end of DSLR cameras. Real birders spend thousands on better lenses and stuff but that is way out of my reach.

If you need help identifying any birds from your safari, let me know! That sounds like so much fun!

[Tiny genius]

I was indeed joking, Monty Python reference.

I know jack smeg about cameras but maybe lens-moding would be useful.

[locke]

We have 5 bookshelves in the spare room. One in the bedroom. One in the living room and one in the breakfast nook. very triumphant, imo.

(caveat, some of them are really dvd shelves)

[Gravity Defier]

Even though I didn't eat much of a breakfast or lunch and was quite hungry, even though I'm lazy/tired/crampy from being on my period, and even though I'm bored with my easy to make food, I did not buy fast food on the way to the apartment.

[Syphon the Sun]

Some of you will understand: I've been married for four years, today!

[Claire]

'grats, dude!

[thoughtreader]

Congratulations Michael!

On a semi related note... After being married for 2 years and 10 and a half months I finally have a valid state ID with my married name on it. This also finally happened 11 months after my last ID expired, I may have a slight procrastination issue when it comes to going to the DMV...

[Tiny genius]

Yes, congratulations indeed!

My oldest sister was married on Saturday!

[Young Val]

I have finally got over my fear (and fierce envy) of striped clothing. I am rocking the hell out of a dramatically striped dress today.

[thoughtreader]

I got carded tonight at a wine shop I used to go to for tastings ALL the time. And when the server asked for my ID he said you look much to young to be drinking an I laughed and said "SURE for some one who just turned 28"

All things considered since I was feeling old after turning 28 a few weeks ago it was nice to be told I looked young

[Luet]

I called an acquaintance/friend and asked if she wanted to have lunch. This was difficult because we have hung out solo twice, both times at my suggestion. I hate feeling like I'm always the one to ask. But who knows what her circumstances are. And I know that I need to make slow progress on getting girlfriends that I can trust and talk to. It's just such a tenuous and emotionally difficult process.

[locke]

I've finished watching all the criterion titles I owned on bluray that I had never seen a few weeks ago. Now to work on the regular bluray titles I own but have never seen. Then all the criterions I own on DVD but have never seen. Then All the 'special features' on the criterion bluray that are actually a complete feature film, like Cathy Come Home on Kes, or Murder A la Mod on Blow out. Then I have regular dvds I own but have never seen, and that will be a really daunting task. After all that, going through all the eclipse films. Oy. Eventually I will get all those 150-200 something films I own but have never seen watched. Then maybe I can start systematically rewatching or going through extra features. :-p

Also, I finished watching all of By Brakhage: An Anthology, vol 1. That was a lot of experimental film. And dammit I really really wish I had watched this in film school as there was some insights of Brakhage and just approaches to the film camera as a brush that would have really benefitted my explorations with still photography.

Finishing all 400 minutes of By Brakhage: An Anthology, vol 2 seems really daunting. I'm taking a break by watching my Buster Keaton Short films bluray set. (Keaton's shorts are better than all but a handful of his features, I'm discovering)

[Gravity Defier]

If (nay, when!) I finish up writing the blog entry I'm doing that covers this weekend's fun, it will be a personal triumph no one can understand. I've been slacking off on keeping it updated and I'm pretty sure it is hands down the longest entry I've ever written.

[Syphon the Sun]

I really, really love my job.

[Dr. Mobius]

I kept my cruise set to 69 the entire way up and down I-57 and didn't let faster traffic tempt me to speed up.

[locke]

With the student loan payment I'll make tonight I will pay off the original principle and begin paying just interest down, essentially. Meaning I'll have paid more on the loan than the original principle amount, and the remaining balance represents basically the total accrued interest.

I'm hoping to pay it off on my bday--that will necessitate a hit to savings, but I think it'll be a good birthday gift to myself. Student loan free after 5.75 years of paying them.

[LilBee91]

Today in my journey to Rochester for my internship I successfully:
Cheated the system and did an act of service by gate-checking my carry-on (yes, that's how I view that)
Grabbed my own luggage from baggage claim
Hauled two suitcases around the MSP airport to my shuttle van
Rode in my first taxi (this would be more of a triumph if I'd actually waved down the taxi myself rather than the shuttle people arranging one to come get me, but still)
Unpacked most of my clothes (I need to buy hangers, so some are just lying on the floor)
And, typical of me, managed to find a Barnes & Noble before I found a place to eat dinner

Pretty successful day, if I do say so myself.

[Gravity Defier]

Aaah, you are in the Midwest now! Until when, again?

[LilBee91]

August 4th.

The humidity may already be killing me.

[Gravity Defier]

The humidity may already be killing me.

Seriously understand that one.

Also, it is ridiculously expensive to travel to Rochester but if you ever have a free weekend you can travel to Minneapolis, I can get decent fare there. No pressure or anything and based off my latest meeting up with folks, it is a bit nerve-wracking for me but I'd be willing to try. :)

[LilBee91]

Also, it is ridiculously expensive to travel to Rochester but if you ever have a free weekend you can travel to Minneapolis, I can get decent fare there. No pressure or anything and based off my latest meeting up with folks, it is a bit nerve-wracking for me but I'd be willing to try.

That would be awesome. I have no idea what my weekends will be like, but I should have a better idea after next week. I'll let you know.

[LilBee91]

*double post*

I made a grilled cheese sandwich in the community kitchen.

[Luet]

This is a personal triumph that I'm shooting for tomorrow. I'll report back and let you know if it happens. I want to wake up early (by 7:30am) and go birding! I have slept terribly the last three nights and thus have ended up sleeping really late.

[locke]

I got a 10% raise, I've been downplaying my expectations since I asked for it, telling myself I would really push for 3% if they weren't going to give me any raise at all, and I was conservatively hoping for about 5-7% max. I've been at this company a year now, I was already near the very top of the pay scale for what I do, so that is pretty damn good, imo, short of a promotion (my goal for the next year). It's nice to see the long hours and hard work pay off.

First raise I've gotten since 2008, my pay's gone up quite a bit since then, but I would manage that by just setting a higher, new rate when I went to a new job; but it was 2007-09 that I worked one place long enough to get raises. I often complain that maybe I shouldn't have left that place because the growth opportunities were stellar and the bragging rights of the shows were huge, but this news today reminded me that I was $50/week away from their ceiling when I left for a job that was paying me 150 beyond their max pay.

Since this is effective this week, it will be especially helpful with all the time I'm missing for the wedding and honeymoon. Gonna be a frugal end of June for sure, but maybe not as frugal as I thought. Hah, if only I got paid time off, paid vacation days or even paid sick days. :-p