Everything2 New Writeups

Ecru (thing)

2013-05-24T23:06:32Z

Ecru is a color closely related to beige -- in fact, most of us would consider it beige. Until the 1930s it was used as a synonym for beige, although it had a very specific overtone; fancy but unfinished. Ecru comes from the French Ã©cru, meaning 'raw', or, in the case of fabrics, 'unbleached'. Ecru is traditionally the color of unbleached finer fabrics, particularly linen and silk. (This is in contrast to beige, which is traditionally the color of unbleached wool and cotton).

These days ecru is used for shades of greyish-pale yellow or pale greyish-yellowish brown. As such, it is easily confused with beige, khaki, taupe, and tan.

Ecru's hex triplet is #C2B280, its sRGB coordinates are R194, G178, B128.

The philosophy of a lurker (person)

2013-05-24T21:14:06Z

Is there confusion between loneliness
and circumspection
a difference between boasting
and ransom note mea culpa

for those who lurk anonymous
to piss rhymes in a bush
worshiping an idol
fanning a flame

there are no detectives anymore (just librarians)
it seems we're all content to keep the book on the shelf
that opens the secret door
to our sordid and collective past

maybe they don't kick their feet up enough
grooming their high horse
no wonder there's an abundance of free time
for ignoring the pudgy mind

Like white light? Or a long low moan that turns into laughing? Or the holes in Jesus' hands? (fiction)

2013-05-24T20:33:48Z

â...also I think that if you would make more forward leaning approaches to leveraging value-added services you would have a better process management scheme for your workflow.â

It was only as the ergonomic chairs around me creaked and moaned as fifteen portly asses swiveled in my direction that I realized I was expected to respond. It occurred to me in that moment that if you graphed their bodyfat percentage and personal debt versus a native Congolese you would probably notice a disturbing correlation.

As I perform my trademarked exasperated throat clear/eyeglass adjustment, mentally analyzing the tortured pile of fucked-out Tijuana whores that had just been dropped into my lap, I realize there's only one way out of this one. I could of course sigh that everything was in the report, copies of which were sitting, obviously unread, in front of every person in the room.

I knew they were unread, because after two pages they had devolved into personal attacks, and then nothing but…

Thirty seven hats in search of a head (idea)

2013-05-24T19:16:29Z

(in memory of my grandmother who wore sensible shoes and outrageous hats she made by hand)

Hat maker, hat maker,
Please make me a hat,
Take some of this
and take some of that.

A white rose from a dance that never took place,
delicate baby's breath or ragged black lace,
broken ocean shells from the sea,
even fragile red leaves, still on a tree.

Add a bluesy ribbon or buttons of old,
Sew them in silver or sew them in gold,
Then add feathers and fine dark bones,
an extra small poem in a baby food jar,
paper cranes folded orange for peace afar.

Protect me…

How to knit socks (how-to)

2013-05-24T17:49:37Z

Ack! Bewilderbeast seems to have departed and taken her excellent sock-knitting tutorial with her. In the interest of not losing this vital information from the nodegel, here's a replacement.

These instructions are intended as a fairly general pattern for top-down socks knitted in the round. There are socks that are knitted flat and sewn up the back, and others that knit toe-up, but I don't have any patterns for those.

Things you should know: you should be able to knit, purl, and do basic decreases (k2tog, p2tog). It's helpful if you've worked on double-pointed needles before, but not absolutely necessary; a sock is a pretty good way to learn.

On fibre

Wool or mostly-wool blend is warm and elastic, and makes excellent socks. I've never tried using any of the plant-based fibres (cotton, linen, bamboo, soy, etc.), but I suspect that cotton and linen at least are too inelastic. Sock yarn needs some stretch…

Pitcher's Duet (idea)

2013-05-24T17:36:38Z

Although I love baseball, I rarely get to attend games in person. When my oldest daughter told me that her sixth grade class was taking a field trip to Miller Park, I put in a time off request at work so I could go with her. I've been to enough games with children to understand that I'm not there to watch the game, but a taste of love is better than none at all, so even though it rained continuously while we were tailgating, the dismal weather failed to dampen my enthusiasm. As a fan, I believe that the first pitch is critical. For me, it sets the tone of the game. It starts the game, and as I heard the crack of an opposition bat, I wondered what travels through the mind of a starting pitcher when the leadoff man puts his first pitch into play?

During Wednesday's game, the Brewers rallied during the eighth inning, but they were unable to gain the advantage before they walked off the field. Miller Park has a retractable roof, but there…

Lovat (thing)

2013-05-24T16:39:14Z

Lovat is a sort of dull, dusty mix of green, grey and blue used largely in textiles; more so for tweed, plaid and woolen fabrics.

The colour name traces its origins back to nobleman Thomas Alexander Fraser (17 June 1802 â 28 June 1875) 12th Lord Lovat, 1st Baron Lovat KT, and 21st MacShimidh (the traditional Gaelic patronym for the Chiefs of the Clan Fraser) who spent most of his career seeing to the completion of restoring Lovat titles and lands. His preference for muted colours in his hunting tweeds influenced the naming of this colour.

The use of the name as the colour appears in history between the years 1905 and 1910.

May 24, 2013 (log)

2013-05-24T14:23:37Z

Oh, gosh. HTML editing right off the bat. It's been a while. Bear with me. does the text go to the link pipe?

I woke up today with every intention of rowing for a good 5000 metres, doing some yoga/body weight exercises, reading about communism, finishing my essay on Dracula and rifling through papers on sperm-egg interactions in Australian hopping mice. Instead, I saw a single gif of Prince Nuada and decided to watch Hellboy one and two. It's the end of the term, the list of things I have to do is exceptionally long, but all I've managed is several hundred words in the fantasy novel I'm writing.

Oh, I know. How original. How unique. A fantasy novel.

I didn't quit writing when I quit this place. I kept writing, but I wrote bigger and longer and more obscene. I wrote for audiences not welcome here, and I am not critiquing that, but I wanted to get into the habit of writing every day, and writing…

May 24, 2013 (essay)

2013-05-24T09:33:21Z

Something is wrong with new user registrations.

Site Trajectory 2 charts arguably the most significant barometer of E2's progress: "New users (contributing)". The decline here is shocking. Up until 2009 this number was comfortably into the dozens per month. Now it is single figures and still dropping. So far in May 2013 only one new user* has contributed nodes.

This drop is not consistent with a natural ebb and flow of users arriving and leaving - something is wrong.

To see how bad this is, take a look at the "Sign up" page. Here is what it says at the time of writing:

Enter new account details

Please fill in your user name, real name (optional), email address and password:

Username:

Real name:

Email address:

Confirm email:

Password:

Confirm password:

I am an evil robot spammer

OH MY GOODNESS. …

The philosophy of a lurker (poetry)

2013-05-24T03:17:59Z

There once was a lurker reading the site
He felt so alone and contrite
He wanted to post, to ramble and boast
To do so would be such a delight

But he feared he had nothing to say
The regulars would shoo him away
He'd be hated and scorned, leave more forlorn
The rejection would ruin his day

Austrian Death Machine (thing)

2013-05-24T02:46:54Z

So. Back in the year 2000 a Californian named Tim Lambesis who grew up listening to a lot of Megadeth decided that he could totally do that. He founded a moderately boring 21st century metal band called As I Lay Dying. Over the course of 4 studio albums they gained immense popularity and enjoyed the life of a majorly successful t-shirt band.

Since Lambesis could effectively do whatever the hell he wanted, he decided to birth a side project. The vision of the project had two goals. Firstly, to mock and satirize the stereotypically bad metal bands of his generation which he is very much apart of and obliviously perpetuating in As I Lay Dying. And secondly to give playful tribute (not quite the same as parody) to a cultural icon and hero of Lambesis - Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Wow, doesn't that sound like a terrible idea? Theoretically maybe, but somewhere in the layers upon layers of irony everything somehow cancelled out, and in July 2008 Lambesis' side project and…

Iron Man 3 (review)

2013-05-24T01:42:11Z

"Ever since that guy with the big hammer fell out of the sky, subtlety has had its day."
--A villain, Iron Man 3

Around 1980 or so, Stan Lee acknowledged in his column, Stan's Soapbox, that many of the mass-media adaptations of Marvel Comics superheroes bore too little resemblance to their inspirations, and were less than adequate depictions by any standard. He made a bold proposal: Marvel would form a film company, enter into partnership with a major studio, and retain greater creative control over the final product. It took decades, but Lee achieved this dream. The twenty-first century has seen numerous successful Marvel movies, with The Avengers-related franchise setting new standards for the superhero genre. Not so long ago, you were a hopeless geek if you even knew Iron Man was something other than a Black Sabbath song. Then again, not so long ago, San Diego Comic-Con was actually about comics.

So 2013…

Men of Blood (poetry)

2013-05-23T12:53:15Z

Today we saw the men of blood,
On our streets,
Vacant faced murderers,
Blood on hands and feet,
Pity, shock, disbelief - anger for some,
Worry, more than anything, of more of this to come.

May 23, 2013 (log)

2013-05-23T05:33:50Z

Yesterday I accepted an offer of representation from a literary agent for my nonfiction book.

This is pretty sweet for me, because it's a bit of a niche title on asexuality and I wasn't sure I'd be able to find representation. But I'm qualified as a spokesperson if anyone is; I've done all kinds of media, public speaking, been in a damn movie even, and I've been interviewed in magazines and podcasts, and have been fielding questions and comments and regular abuse by trolls for something like a dozen years. The author's credentials matter for nonfiction a lot more than they do for fiction. (The literary agent who represents my fiction did not care that I had not published any fiction. My fantasy trilogy is on submission as we speak.)

I'm tickled that this agent thought my book proposal was good as is and only needs minor changes,…

Action Man (thing)

2013-05-23T03:57:56Z

In our age, the road to holiness necessarily passes through the world of action.
-Dag Hammarskjold

Mister Chu, flying through Atlanta
remembers the last time he was there.

It was many years ago, but even then a complex airport
filled that evening with thousands of people.

Ants without a common purpose
beyond the transportation of themselves by others.

In a bathroom designated for the use of men only
Mister Chu had splashed water onto his tired face

washed his hands as one is supposed to.
Behin…

Port Orford Heads State Park (place)

2013-05-23T02:33:17Z

Port Orford Heads State Park is a state park in the Oregon parks system located a mile or so outside of Port Orford, Oregon. As the name suggests, it is located on headlands, a rocky peninsula that juts out into the Pacific Ocean.

The Oregon Coast is beautiful, and the rocky, mountainous Southern Oregon Coast is doubly so. Being on a high, rocky peninsula with a 270 degree view of the Pacific Ocean is one great reason to visit Port Orford Heads. The fact that this is one of the west most points in the lower 48 states is another good reason to visit. But the Oregon Coast is full of dramatic and beautiful scenery, and there is a State Park every five or ten miles.

What is of note about Port Orford Heads is that it used to be a Coast Guard base, and the base has been preserved and turned into a museum. The base was active from 1934 to 1970, during much of which time Highway 101 hadn't been completed in its modern form and Port Orford was very isolated. The Coast Guard…

Proprietary CD-ROM interface (thing)

2013-05-23T01:06:32Z

It was the early 90s. Bill Clinton was in office. Eight megabytes of RAM was considered a lot. Most geeks who weren't in college didn't know what the Internet was yet, and likely spent most of their online time dialing into local BBS systems.

CD-ROM drives were starting to become affordable.

So you went out to CompUSA and bought yourself a brand new shiny CD-ROM drive. Upon opening it up you notice there is also an ISA card in the box with it. Yep, it uses a proprietary interface. Long before ATAPI CD-ROM drives came along, you had these beasts which required a special card just to use them. At one point sound card manufacturers realized they could put these interfaces on their cards as an added-value feature.

The Creative Labs Sound Blaster Pro supported Panasonic CD-ROM drives. The Gravis Ultrasound MAX supported Panasonic, Sony and Mitsumi drives, and was one of the largest sound cards ever made as a result.

Eventually the ATAPI CD-ROM…

fishing at night (personal)

2013-05-22T21:41:39Z

Earlier today, as I walked down a hallway filled with business suits and serious faces I paused for a moment, only a moment, in embarrassment.

I could not remember a word.

This isn't uncommon, and normally I continue on without a thought, knowing that at some point I will remember it and all will be well, but this time it gave me pause because of the nature of the word.

It was a fishing word.

I no longer fish, but from the time I was a small child until after college I often spent my days and nights wading up various creeks, or camping on a riverbank, or even trailing a line behind a boat. But as life changed and I drifted further and further from my rural roots I unconsciously fished less and less, until one day I realized I had not touched my fishing pole in years. The line on it had dry rotted and the last jig I used seemed permanently secured to one of the eyeholes.

The word I had forgotten this morning, between meetings and presentations, described…

Operation Popeye (event)

2013-05-22T14:35:24Z

I was glancing through the news this morning and came across an article that caught my eye. It was in regards to the recent tornado that ripped through Oklahoma killing at least 24 people, 9 of them children. Besides the toll taken in human life, the area is devastated with homes, schools, hospitals and businesses virtually wiped off the map.

Leave it to nut job and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to speculate that the government might have used a âweather weaponâ to create the carnage that just occurred. He went on and stated that itâs pretty much a given the government âcan create and steer groups of tornadoesâ if it felt like it.

Oy Vey!

At least it got me to thinking and wondering if the United States has ever tried to manipulate the weather during war and lo and behold, it seems we have.

âMake mud, not war.â

The year is 1967 and the United States is mired in the Vietnam War. The North…

May 22, 2013 (personal)

2013-05-22T11:08:06Z

(another) Unsent letter:

You know, I finally tried out the restaurant you used to work at the other night. Service was goddamn lousy. I must have sat there at that little white table outside for half an hour and I didn't even get a glass of water. Possibly because it was around 3 in the morning. I eventually decided I had to serve myself, and helped myself to a cigarette.

With words written on the side.
That said,
"Still can't feel it"

I stood up and mused over the menu in the display case next to the gated front door. You know, I don't think it's wise to try to put crab in me, but the Vietnamese pepper shrimp seems like it could really hit the spot for an appetizer. Â Down to the soups. Are you guys too good to make a du jour or something? Oh, there it is, at the very top. You know, it really just means soup of the day? It's taken on such a specific meaning in this country since then.…

Faint of heart (poetry)

2013-05-22T03:37:43Z

Ailene

Hers were opinions subdued,
spoken quietly, lacking conviction.

Faint of bone,
soft of spirit, weak of knee.

Hers were understated passions,
reticent kisses and timid fingers.

Faint of heart,
faith in hardly anything.

Suzanne, on the other hand

Hers were thoughts the whole room knew,
she of leather jackets and brazen heels.

Faint of nothing,
transparent as her blouse.

imagination (idea)

2013-05-22T03:25:19Z

They grow up so fast.

I have been watching the goslings at the Arboretum grow up. I walk my dog there in the morning and evening, and now that itâs a summery spring we also sit and bask in the sun, the glow of the rippling water, and watch the goose kibbutz in action.

I have learned the intersecting territories; where the redwing blackbird nests are, the favorite sunning place of the giant black rat snake, and that of the angry old squirrel who always yells at us to get off his lawn. One day a baby sparrow hopped straight at me as we ambled the path, and opened his beak when I bent down to inspect him to see if he was hurt: feed me! I rubbed his head with one finger, apologetically. Sorry, buddy: just ate my last worm.Â My peaceable little dog watched this transaction with bemusement. The magnolia has…

Pandeism and the world of Doctor Who (essay)

2013-05-22T00:15:26Z

Earlier this year I resolved to node less on Pandeism, except for "one more big one coming"; this is that one.*

The Universe of Doctor Who is an odd one to consider within the context of the theological theory of Pandeism -- after all, Pandeism is logic-based, whereas the Whovian realm is perhaps somewhat more.... whimsical. A bit silly, even, not only in the behavior of its denizens, but in the operations of time and space and physics.

For the uninitiated, the world of Doctor Who centers on the adventures of the Doctor -- a Time Lord from the once-great (and now sadly destroyed) planet Gallifrey. The Doctor inhabits a time-and-space ship of sorts called the TARDIS, which externally looks like a 1960's British police box, but is enormous on the inside, and which enables him to travel to any point in time and space. This he does, fighting a variety of enemies, old recurring…

thoughts while cutting my daughter's hair (poetry)

2013-05-21T20:33:46Z

Oh...she's going to look so beautiful when I'm done.....

Wait a minute......

I don't have a daughter.

What have I done?

May 21, 2013 (log)

2013-05-21T18:00:51Z

A Little Help from my friends -

It's been a while since I've posted here, though I haven't stopped trolling Etouffee's poetry. Catharsis is catharsis after all. I'm only a little ashamed to say that for the most part, I've stopped posting here because I've been trying to get my pieces published in Literary Journals of resoundingly suspicious quality, but that I have been moderately successful. I've gotten over a dozen poems published to various journals, and if all goes well I'll have a chapbook published soon. A chapbook is a weird little medium, it's essentially a half book of poetry. It's mainly used for those who don't have the stones to write an entire book of poetry.

This whole enterprise has been made possible by the good folks at Duotrope Unfortunately, they've started charging five bucks a month, but it's been a really awesome resource for me, since I'm a notoriously lazy submitter. I hated writing cover letters, trying to find back issues to see if they…