{"@attributes":{"version":"2.0"},"channel":{"title":"It's gonna be the future soon...","link":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/","description":"It's gonna be the future soon... - LiveJournal.com","lastBuildDate":"Thu, 23 Aug 2012 18:30:26 GMT","generator":"LiveJournal \/ LiveJournal.com","image":{"url":"https:\/\/l-userpic.livejournal.com\/109285827\/124644","title":"It's gonna be the future soon...","link":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/","width":"100","height":"100"},"item":[{"guid":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1408331.html","pubDate":"Thu, 23 Aug 2012 18:30:26 GMT","title":"Atheism+","author":"juldea","link":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1408331.html","description":"

The atheist blogosphere has been having some growing pains for a few years in response to participants in the movement (such as it is) increasingly making it clear that they are not all straight white cis men and would love to participate on the same level as straight white cis men, but not all of the SWCM see this as a reasonable thing. From the amount I follow things I wouldn't say this has all come to a head in any recent incident, but apparently now is the time that the right voices came together to say the right things, and Atheism Plus<\/a> has been born.

We are...
Atheists plus we care about social justice,
Atheists plus we support women's rights,
Atheists plus we protest racism,
Atheists plus we fight homophobia and transphobia,
Atheists plus we use critical thinking and skepticism.<\/i>

Participation in the atheist blogosphere is not high on my list of life priorities, but there are some people<\/a> whose work I have found worth it to follow<\/a> and inform me on these topics as a side effect. I feel I've always worked to meet the above list of \"pluses\", and given I also participate in The Brights<\/a> because I believe that community in atheism is important, I'm happy to jump on this bandwagon. A+ for me, please!

A few more useful links for researching Atheism+:
http:\/\/freethoughtblogs.com\/blaghag\/2012\/08\/how-i-unwittingly-infiltrated-the-boys-club-why-its-time-for-a-new-wave-of-atheism\/<\/a>
http:\/\/freethoughtblogs.com\/blaghag\/2012\/08\/atheism\/<\/a>
http:\/\/freethoughtblogs.com\/ashleymiller\/2012\/08\/20\/the-difference-between-atheism-and-humanism\/<\/a>","comments":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1408331.html?view=comments#comments","category":["atheism","politics"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1377829.html","pubDate":"Sun, 15 Apr 2012 21:38:14 GMT","title":"7 things meme, part 1","author":"juldea","link":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1377829.html","description":"The rules: \"Comment to this post and I will list seven things I want you to talk about. They might make sense or they might be totally random. Then post that list, with your commentary, to your journal. Other people can get lists from you, and the meme merrily perpetuates itself.\"<\/i>

My list from <\/a>dromeda<\/b><\/a><\/span>:
-Children's TV
-Either very high places or very low ones
-the \"throwing words at something until they stick\" method of communication
-Marsupials
-Excess
-Social propriety
-Mindfucks

Children's TV<\/b>

I don't really have much to say here; I have so little interaction with children that I don't know much about what TV exists for them these days. I'm a fan of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, but I only found out about it from the internet. I only really was able to get into it because the Bronies made it so widely available on YouTube. I have computer screens available way more than I have a TV available.

When I was the age to watch children's TV, I watched a few of the \"standards.\" Animaniacs, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Muppet Babies top the immediate memories. I also figure I have this Voltron knowledge from watching the show, even if I don't remember it much. Popular shows that I have seen very little of include Gargoyles and Batman: The Animated Series, and I've never seen a single episode of Spongebob Squarepants.

The only time I ever saw any Teletubbies was in a hospital coming out from under anesthesia after surgery to reset a broken leg and nose from a car accident. Let me reiterate: Teletubbies while coming out from anesthesia<\/i>. To date the freakiest thing I have ever experienced, what with the baby sun and the weird language and strange imagery.<\/a>

This meme will be continued in future posts. :)","comments":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1377829.html?view=comments#comments","category":"meme"},{"guid":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1341466.html","pubDate":"Fri, 09 Dec 2011 22:38:55 GMT","title":"my night at Occupy Boston","author":"juldea","link":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1341466.html","description":"Last night I went to Occupy Boston to assist the movement in the face of probable police activity after a judge ruled yesterday that the occupiers didn't have a First Amendment right to occupy the square, leading Mayor Menino to announce he wanted the encampment gone by midnight. Like many, I support the Occupy movement while at the same time recognizing its flaws--and I'm not going to get into that in this post. I'm just going to talk about last night.

I had been thinking about going during the day, but didn't bring it up to Dan until after dinner. I had seen tweets saying there was plenty that people could do to help that didn't involve staying until midnight and possibly getting arrested. I figured there could be something I could do to help, and if not, at least see the event at one of its most powerful moments. Dan decided to join me, so we bundled up to stand outside for a few hours and headed down to Dewey Square. In the T car on the way there, some college-aged protestors were making announcements to the car about what was going on, urging riders to come join the movement.

We arrived and made our way to the information tent, where I asked what we could do to help and got pretty much a shrug in response--\"find something to do and do it.\" So we went inside and wandered around for a bit. Despite never being there before, it was clear that some areas had already been moved out. There were large clear spots where tents had been before. The encampment was fairly busy but not yet packed with people; we only had to push our way through crowds a couple of times.

We made our way up to the \"stage\" area where some announcements and plans were being made. The speakers alternated between using a microphone, which was audible, and trying to shout and using the human microphone, which mostly wasn't. I don't remember much of what was being talked about at that time. I ran into larp-person Kindness in the crowd, who I've never interacted with much before personally. It was good to see someone I knew.

Five members of the National Lawyers Guild took the mic to run a civil disobience primer, which ended up being one of the best parts of the evening for me. They went over such topics as what things could possibly get you arrested (anything*), what you can do to try to avoid getting additional charges of resisting arrest or assault and battery of a police officer (very little*), what would happen over the next few days if you got arrested in great detail, and what this kind of arrest and a \"criminal record\" might mean for your future. (* = \"because police lie,\" by the way.) I wish I could just reprint a transcript of that entire hour, because it was so very informative it changed my decision to leave before midnight. The speakers were engaging and obviously very connected to the Occupy cause. They also spoke some of the most matter-of-fact anti-police rhetoric I've ever heard in person, not whipping up a frenzy of hate but simply making people aware of how much trust to put in the system. I was super-impressed.

After they left the stage, an organizer announced that there would be talks happening soon to determine what would happen to defend the encampment and what was possible for people who didn't want to be arrested. <\/a>dromeda<\/b><\/a><\/span> had shown up during the lawyers' talk, and she and Dan and I headed toward the front of the camp to see what was going on there. An activist brass band had shown up and was having a small concert\/dance party just outside the camp. Kindness caught up with us and decided, by coin-flip, to stay and risk arrest to defend the camp. He handed off his belongings to dromeda and headed back inside. I debated briefly with dromeda and Dan about staying and determined that I'd be disappointed in myself if I didn't. I had already only shown up with my phone, ID, and T pass, so I didn't have stuff to worry about. Plus, <\/a>londo<\/b><\/a><\/span> had shown up and was going to stick around for a while being a guy with a camera, so I had an emergency contact about. Therefore, about 11:40 I bade farewell to Dan and dromeda and headed inside to see what I could do.

I had heard that those risking arrest should head for the center of camp, so I found that group (and Kindness within it.) They were group-debating what the plan was, specifically regarding protecting the media tent and the bronze Gandhi statue that had been lent to the movement. The plan formed to be moving Gandhi near the media tent so that both could be protected together with a several-deep human chain. There was some busywork clearing out some areas and setting tarps down, and then we spent wayyyyy too long forming up into a test-chain. Honestly I didn't even know it wasn't a test chain; I thought we were going to have to stand like that for hours--and would have, but was glad that we didn't.

The first line of the chain, closest to the tent\/Gandhi, was formed by standing people linked arm-in-arm with their own hands clasped together (either holding your own wrists, or an interesting way to lock your thumbs together) to make it harder for the chain to be pulled apart. The second line was to be kneeling, and the third to be sitting, but I think it ended up with two standing lines and one sitting. We all faced inward to avoid the sitting folks being kicked in the face or any of us getting projectiles to the face. Some people had masks, and there was vinegar passed around to soak your mask in to counter possible chemical agents. Outside of our chain was a group of protestors \"dressed as bankers\" (whatever that means--I never saw them, too many people in the way) who were actively going to attempt to get arrested first, and asked us all to cheer when they were. Because, well, you know.

It was cold. I'm glad I wore multiple layers on almost every part of my body. I began losing feeling in my toes, they were so cold, but I found an EMT with a couple of hot packs that I stuffed into my boots and was good for the rest of the night (and found them still warm this morning.) There were blankets and sleeping bags available to wrap yourself in, and announcements about how sucky hypothermia was were made.

At this point I had my first encounter with a guy who I'm still very sure was an undercover cop trying to cause trouble. One of the ends of our line, right next to Gandhi, ended up against the MBTA access building that's at the end of Dewey Square, and there's an access door very near to where we wore. Someone was fretting over the possibility that cops would use that access to storm the camp from the rear. This guy overheard and began loudly stating that we should U-lock the door. Since I heard no one else agreeing with him, I'm pretty sure most everyone agreed with me that while we have a right to peacefully assemble, we have no right to stick a lock on MBTA property. The guy went on to continue to try to rile people up juuuuust barely. When folks were trying to move tarps and supplies around to make room for the chain, he would go out of his way to try to dump them on the flowers in the park instead of on some of the bare tent-free spaces. It made me happy that he would be cut off from such attempts most of the time. Later in the evening, I was less happy that he convinced a small group of guys to move Gandhi away from his safe spot, but that's later...

After we had successfully proven we could form a human chain, we unlinked and waited. And waited. We talked amongst ourselves, shivered, checked Twitter (occasionally, when fingers unfroze), and....slowly got more and more alarmed as other groups of Occupiers spurned our idea of protecting the center of the camp and instead began rallying on the sidewalks and spilling into Atlantic Ave. Some people were running back and forth and updated us on the situation there as protestors slowly blocked the street. I was not the only one supremely unhappy with this plan. The point of the evening was to resist a crackdown on the camp, not to encourage one by brashly flaunting the power of a mob.

About what, 1am? the word got out that some police muckity-muck had told the news there would be no police action on the camp that night, and everyone erupted into cheering. Then a few of us remembered that, well, *. So the lines around the media tent and Gandhi didn't all disappear, but they sure melted away as many people determined they didn't need to stay and could go join what was becoming a block party in the street. I stuck around the area keeping an eye on Twitter, the crowd, and the cops. londo went on a 7-11 run and brought Kindness and me back some horrible convenience store food that we scarfed down with joy. During this time the probable-undercover-cop convinced guys to move Gandhi into the street crowd \"to get people pumped up\"--I had really bad feelings about this, and I've seen on Twitter this morning that the statue is no longer a part of the camp, and I'm really curious what actually happened.

At 2 I was one of maybe six people still in the center of camp, and I was getting damn cold, so I started joining londo doing walking laps around the encampment area. 95% of the people had moved out into the street at this point. The police had blocked off both ends and rerouted traffic. We looked for evidence of cops massing for an offense based on what londo had seen in October and found none. Kindness left about this point.

londo and I were talking about maybe leaving when we saw a group of protestors talking to an older police officer, so we went to eavesdrop on what was being said. It actually was a very interesting conversation about the UC Berkeley pepper spray incident during which the cop was agreeing that things were done against protocol there. Several protestors thanked this office for how the BPD had handled the raid in October, \"doing what had to be done without cracking skulls.\" There were also of course the statements about how we were fighting for his job and paycheck and pension. He did a good job of remaining stone-faced; I still don't know exactly what he thought on any of these issues. It was a nice talk to have at the end of the evening, though. londo stuck around a while longer talking to a guy and a reporter about the history of anti-corporate\/anti-banking\/etc movements (such as the Farmer's Alliance<\/a> of the 1880s), then made the reporter sad when he wouldn't share his name with her and thus allow her to use his statements.

At 3am, adrenaline-crashing-tired and cold, londo and I visited 7-11 for hot cocoa and grabbed a cab back to Somerville. Dan was still up waiting for me, having kept an eye on the livestreams the entire time. I wrapped up in blankets and got to sleep about 4, with an alarm set for 8.

I don't regret it one bit.<\/a>","comments":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1341466.html?view=comments#comments","category":"politics"},{"guid":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1324547.html","pubDate":"Wed, 19 Oct 2011 17:23:09 GMT","title":"Naomi Wolf arrested at Occupy Wall Street","author":"juldea","link":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1324547.html","description":"Link: http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/commentisfree\/cifamerica\/2011\/oct\/19\/naomi-wolf-arrest-occupy-wall-street<\/a>

Relevant quote: Obviously if DHS now has powers to simply take over a New York City street because of an arrest for peaceable conduct by a middle-aged writer in an evening gown, we have entered a stage of the closing of America, which is a serious departure from our days as a free republic in which municipalities are governed by police forces.<\/b>","comments":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1324547.html?view=comments#comments","category":"politics"},{"guid":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1322419.html","pubDate":"Fri, 14 Oct 2011 02:53:02 GMT","title":"Get Closer","author":"juldea","link":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1322419.html","description":"90 second video. I really don't want to say too much about this, because the message is strongest if you go into it blank. It doesn't take up a lot of your time. Sound is not necessary for the message, though apparently the song used is powerful for some people.



Video shows a busy pedestrian intersection of a Swiss city. A person in a teddy bear suit stands still as pedestrians wander by, staring. Eventually the bear begins to open his arms at passers-by, as if asking for a hug. After several refusals, a young male happily steps up to hug the bear. A montage follows of people from all walks of life hugging this massive teddy bear in their city street. The bear even pats several dogs that are brought to him. At the end of the video, the person in the bear suit removes the head of the suit to show he is a man with facial traits that suggest mental disability. As he stares challengingly into the camera, the text \"Do we need to disguise ourselves to get closer?\" is shown, followed by the text, \"Get closer.\" The view flips to a rear view of the man walking away from the camera and shows the text \"Pro Infirmis. We make handicaps disappear.\"

I have said to a few people how I have ended up in a job field I didn't really expect to--accessible education--but I really, really am pleased with the extra skills and experience I'm getting in a facet of the world I really didn't interact with much before. I recognize the lengths that I still need to go in facing my own accessibility discrimination, and this video really hits home to me. I cried for pretty much the second half of it after figuring out what was going on (I knew going into it that it was about disability awareness, so it was easy to figure out.)<\/a>","comments":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1322419.html?view=comments#comments","category":["introspective","video"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1315230.html","pubDate":"Fri, 23 Sep 2011 18:27:14 GMT","title":"Job Opening!","author":"juldea","link":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1315230.html","description":"There is a job opening at the Accessible Education Office at Harvard, which is affiliated but not directly connected to my job in the Adaptive Technology Lab. This job would deal less with the technological side of disability and more with the administrative and student-facing side.

http:\/\/www.higheredjobs.com\/institution\/details.cfm?JobCode=175558789&Title=Accommodations%20Coordinator<\/a>

If you're going to apply, as well as going through the Harvard site shoot me a copy of your cover letter and resume, and I'll make sure they get to the right people.","comments":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1315230.html?view=comments#comments","category":"atl"},{"guid":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1302722.html","pubDate":"Fri, 12 Aug 2011 17:37:55 GMT","title":"UK riots","author":"juldea","link":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1302722.html","description":"I've been seeing a lot of good articles on the UK riots fly by on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, etc, due to my friends in the UK (yay internet) and the general high-political-intelligence of the people I associate with. This link came up today, and I liked it very much. It contained a lot of things I was going to say in a post on the topic.

http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/uk\/2011\/aug\/11\/london-riots-davidcameron<\/a>

However \"unacceptable\" and \"unjustifiable\" it might be, it has happened so we better accept it and, whilst we can't justify it, we should kick around a few neurons and work out why so many people feel utterly disconnected from the cities they live in.<\/blockquote>
It's not enough to condemn the rioters for their criminal actions or even to incarcerate them and walk away. This is criminality on a mass scale<\/i>, and as the article above says, unless there's \"a freaky \"criminal creating\" chemical leak,\" it doesn't make sense to avoid investigating what would make hundreds (or thousands?) of people behave like this.

After all, every rioter is a human being, just like you or me<\/i>. I think that's the frightening thing about inspecting root causes of violence such as this. It's comforting to \"other\" the rioters: \"They're not like me,\" \"I'd never do that,\" \"I can't comprehend living in a situation that would cause that kind of reaction.\" Deep down, however, these people aren't Others. They're human beings like us. They're parents, children, siblings, cousins, grandchildren, significant others. They have pets and watch TV and look for (or have) jobs and fall in love and have pet peeves. They are<\/i> like me and you, which makes the next statement so scary: we might, indeed, act the same if we were surrounded by the same environment as these rioters.

That's what makes it so important to investigate the next statement and try to comprehend living in a situation that would cause this kind of reaction. What kind of environment would make me or you decide to loot a business and burn a car? What change must have been made to our mindset, to our thoughts about our place in society, to our hopes and dreams for our future? Most importantly, since those changes are happening to other people, what can we do to reverse that change so that more people--more human beings like us--can have living conditions that don't produce the mindset that makes looting reasonable?<\/i>

I really think that making the connection of \"the rioters are people just like me, who have been subjected to conditions that cause them to find these criminal actions acceptable, and if I were subjected to those conditions I would think so, too<\/i>\" is absolutely necessary for going forward to a society that has fewer riots.

I mean seriously, this line of reasoning and empathizing applies to so many<\/i> of the social problems plaguing Western culture. It's well known that a lot of -isms would have a hard time surviving if Group A would recognize the person-hood of everyone in Group B and do a bit of empathizing. Why is marriage equality worth fighting for? Well, let's see. \"All of those people out there who can't marry who they love are people just like me<\/i>, and how would I feel if I couldn't marry who I love? Ohshi--.\" Indeed.","comments":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1302722.html?view=comments#comments","category":["politics","ranty"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1301356.html","pubDate":"Thu, 11 Aug 2011 16:55:48 GMT","title":"[meme] NPR's top 100 sci-fi\/fantasy books meme","author":"juldea","link":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1301356.html","description":"Hi guys! I'm going to create a meme here, based on many before me.

NPR just released the results of its summer readers' poll looking for the top 100 science fiction and fantasy books (or series.) Let's do a \"which ones have we read\" poll!

Bold<\/b> what you've read completely
Italicize<\/i> what you have read partially
Leave whatever other notes you want!

1. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien

2. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams

3. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card

4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert<\/b>

5. A Song Of Ice And Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin<\/i> -- I haven't read A Feast For Crows or A Dance With Dragons yet.

6. 1984, by George Orwell

7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury

8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov<\/b>

9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley

10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman

11. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman

12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan<\/i> -- I've read through Path of Daggers

13. Animal Farm, by George Orwell

14. Neuromancer, by William Gibson

15. Watchmen, by Alan Moore<\/b>

16. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov

17. Stranger In A Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein<\/b>

18. The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss

19. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut<\/b>

20. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley

21. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick

22. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood

23. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King<\/i> -- I keep stalling out during all the crying I do in Wizard and Glass.

24. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke

25. The Stand, by Stephen King

26. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson
<\/b>
27. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury

28. Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut

29. The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman <\/b> -- I'm pretty sure I've read all of it.

30. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess

31. Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein

32. Watership Down, by Richard Adams

33. Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey<\/b> -- Wait. Just Dragonflight? Not \"The Pern Series\"? Innnteresting.

34. The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein

35. A Canticle For Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller
<\/b>
36. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells

37. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, by Jules Verne

38. Flowers For Algernon, by Daniel Keys

39. The War Of The Worlds, by H.G. Wells

40. The Chronicles Of Amber, by Roger Zelazny

41. The Belgariad, by David Eddings -- I might have read some of this when I was younger, but I don't remember it at all.

42. The Mists Of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley
<\/b>
43. The Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson

44. Ringworld, by Larry Niven

45. The Left Hand Of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin

46. The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien -- I don't count the amount I've started and never continued with as significant. ;)

47. The Once And Future King, by T.H. White

48. Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
<\/b>
49. Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke

50. Contact, by Carl Sagan
<\/b>
51. The Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons

52. Stardust, by Neil Gaiman -- I--I'm not sure I've read this. I think I have? I know I've seen the MOVIE, and that is overriding all my memories of reading the book. :\/

53. Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson
<\/b>
54. World War Z, by Max Brooks

55. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle -- Yes, I know.

56. The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman

57. Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett
<\/b>
58. The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson

59. The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold

60. Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett
<\/b>
61. The Mote In God's Eye, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle

62. The Sword Of Truth, by Terry Goodkind

63. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy

64. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke
<\/b>
65. I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson

66. The Riftwar Saga, by Raymond E. Feist

67. The Shannara Trilogy, by Terry Brooks

68. The Conan The Barbarian Series, by R.E. Howard

69. The Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb

70. The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger

71. The Way Of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson

72. A Journey To The Center Of The Earth, by Jules Verne

73. The Legend Of Drizzt Series, by R.A. Salvatore

74. Old Man's War, by John Scalzi

75. The Diamond Age, by Neil Stephenson
<\/b>
76. Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke

77. The Kushiel's Legacy Series, by Jacqueline Carey
<\/b>
78. The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin

79. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury

80. Wicked, by Gregory Maguire -- Seen the musical; haven't read the book.

81. The Malazan Book Of The Fallen Series, by Steven Erikson

82. The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde

83. The Culture Series, by Iain M. Banks

84. The Crystal Cave, by Mary Stewart

85. Anathem, by Neal Stephenson

86. The Codex Alera Series, by Jim Butcher

87. The Book Of The New Sun, by Gene Wolfe

88. The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn
<\/b>
89. The Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldan<\/i> -- Ugh ugh UGH. Read the first one and had NO interest in continuing.

90. The Elric Saga, by Michael Moorcock<\/i> -- Read a few of these back in the day. Couldn't tell you which.

91. The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury

92. Sunshine, by Robin McKinley

93. A Fire Upon The Deep, by Vernor Vinge

94. The Caves Of Steel, by Isaac Asimov

95. The Mars Trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson

96. Lucifer's Hammer, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle

97. Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis

98. Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville

99. The Xanth Series, by Piers Anthony

100. The Space Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis<\/a>

*eyes list* Looks like I need to catch up!","comments":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1301356.html?view=comments#comments","category":["books","meme"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1269627.html","pubDate":"Tue, 03 May 2011 17:54:38 GMT","title":"Eat at Jumbos for the PMRP!","author":"juldea","link":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1269627.html","description":"RIGHT NOW and for the next hour and a little bit more ('til 3pm), if you order in person or by phone (617-666-0000, the most stoner-friendly number ever) from Eat at Jumbo's<\/a> in Ball Square, Somerville, 15% of your costs will go to the Post-Meridian Radio Players<\/a>! Jumbo's is good food and their delivery range is far (\"this side of the river,\" I was told when I ordered earlier.) Of course, most of you have probably already eaten... But hey! Why not get something early to put on ice for dinner? :D","comments":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1269627.html?view=comments#comments","category":["audio drama","friends are awesome"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1255494.html","pubDate":"Wed, 23 Mar 2011 00:19:01 GMT","title":"gratuitious icon post","author":"juldea","link":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1255494.html","description":"Thanks to <\/a>djinni<\/b><\/a><\/span>, I now have a default icon.

He apparently does this icon day<\/a> thing every now and then. I found out about it through <\/a>beetiger<\/b><\/a><\/span>. It's awesome.","comments":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1255494.html?view=comments#comments","category":["online","squee"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1253128.html","pubDate":"Tue, 01 Mar 2011 16:57:47 GMT","title":"Google maps correction!","author":"juldea","link":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1253128.html","description":"My \"problem report\" to Google Maps, which suggested bikers go up Walnut Street in Somerville -- one of the largest hills in the city -- has finally resulted in a direction change. Requesting biking directions from Harvard to Winter Hill no longer goes up Walnut. Hooray!

Of course, this doesn't avoid the fact that it's hard, perhaps impossible, to avoid going uphill at all in that route. Still, I think Walnut is demonstrably wrong.","comments":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1253128.html?view=comments#comments","category":"i want to ride my"},{"guid":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1251787.html","pubDate":"Tue, 22 Feb 2011 23:56:27 GMT","title":"Braid results","author":"juldea","link":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1251787.html","description":"Remember that poll I did on the video game Braid? It was here: http:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1248166.html<\/a>. I compiled my results.

I did that poll because I noticed a trend when talking to friends that females* almost entirely told me that they watched someone else play Braid rather than play it themselves because they'd never be able to play a game like that\/solve its puzzles, whereas males almost entirely said that the game was worth playing and knocking your head against to solve it rather than use guides.

Poll results:

9 women responded. Almost entirely split: 3 (33%) didn't finish due to time or attention, 2 (22%) didn't finish because it was too hard\/they didn't like it, 2 (22%) finished and used guides, and 2 (22%) finished and didn't use guides.

22 men responded. The numbers are drastically different here. 3 (14%) didn't finish due to time or attention, 1 (5%) didn't finish because it was too hard\/they didn't like it, 5 (34%) finished and used guides, and 13 (60%)<\/b> finished and didn't use guides.

Visualized data below:

\"braid\"<\/a><\/a>

Does this mean anything? I have no clue. It satisfies my curiosity, though.

* My definitions here are based on what pronouns they use. If I've got those wrong, let me know. For this purpose, there was one responder who I didn't count because I couldn't tell from their journal how they identified - <\/a>anidanny<\/b><\/a><\/span>.","comments":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1251787.html?view=comments#comments","category":"geekery"},{"guid":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1250848.html","pubDate":"Fri, 18 Feb 2011 16:12:20 GMT","title":"reposting: Sleep No More ARG","author":"juldea","link":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1250848.html","description":"Reposting from <\/a>alexx_kay<\/b><\/a><\/span>:

Sleep No More is playing in NYC soon, and they have put together an ARG to promote it. If you're in the Boston area, I recommend jumping in before the weekend is over. If I'm right, there will be something Cool happening near here early next week...

http:\/\/sleepnomorenyc.com\/gallowgreen\/<\/a>","comments":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1250848.html?view=comments#comments","category":"geekery"},{"guid":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1250220.html","pubDate":"Tue, 15 Feb 2011 18:19:39 GMT","title":"LJ confessional","author":"juldea","link":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1250220.html","description":"Somewhat tangentially to what I think of as my social circle are the people who actively participate in the \"LJ Confessional,\" which is just a post made about once a year, open to anonymous comments, for people to let loose whatever's on their mind. <\/a>swashbucklr<\/b><\/a><\/span> is I think the closest of my friends to that group, and his post announcing the opening of Confessional 2011 is what led me to it. It's here: http:\/\/aroraborealis.livejournal.com\/958520.html<\/a>

I had the slimmest of expectations to be mentioned unprompted -- just enough to look -- and then prompted comment with a thread of my own<\/a>. So far, the responses have been highly varied - people saying I'm hot, new people saying I seem interesting and they want to get to know me, and people who do know me giving me feedback on personality flaws. It's awesome because the latter is still being polite and not bashing. I hope I'm responding in the proper way to continue that trend.

Thanks to those who have commented, or who will comment after reading this. I like feedback.","comments":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1250220.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1249911.html","pubDate":"Mon, 14 Feb 2011 18:17:06 GMT","title":"ISO: local fish lovers","author":"juldea","link":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1249911.html","description":"http:\/\/www.capeannfreshcatch.org\/<\/a>

Dan and I are looking for someone else who loves tasty super-fresh fish caught by local fisherman and delivered later the same day to join the Cape Ann Fresh Catch Community Supported Fishery with us. Their Cambridge dropoff site is near Dan's work, so he can pick up. Deliveries are Mondays.

Up until approximately a year ago, I would not eat fish (sushi and canned tuna excepted.) The texture and the smell both turned me off. Dan's assured me that I needed to try fresh<\/i> fish. My very first meal made from the Cape Ann delivery changed my entire opinion of fish. For the entirety of last summer I actively looked forward to those Monday night fish dinners.

Respond if you're interested, please, and I'll answer questions or refer them to Dan. :)","comments":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1249911.html?view=comments#comments","category":["food","wumpus","call for help!"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1248166.html","pubDate":"Fri, 04 Feb 2011 16:42:48 GMT","title":"Braid","author":"juldea","link":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1248166.html","description":"I'm doing a bit of data-gathering on the video game Braid<\/a>. The poll below is ONLY for people who have played at least some of the game; sorry, folks who've never touched it, but no clicky-buttons for you.

If you know what kind of data I'm mining here, please don't release it. :)

View Poll: Braid<\/a><\/div>","comments":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1248166.html?view=comments#comments","category":"video games"},{"guid":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1247685.html","pubDate":"Thu, 27 Jan 2011 21:46:46 GMT","title":"7 Doigts de la Main: PSY","author":"juldea","link":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1247685.html","description":"Last night I saw the Quebecois circus group 7 Doigts de la Main perform their show Psy<\/a>. The show uses circus acts in a theatrical style to depict various psychological (and slightly outside of psychological, I think - narcolepsy) disorders: hypochondria, OCD, addiction, phobia, etc. This is the same group that did the amazingly awesome hand-gymnastics dance routine depicting an abusive relationship that I first mentioned here a few years ago -- if you haven't seen it, watch here.<\/a>

I loved last night's show. I definitely recommend it to anyone with interest in circus arts or psychology - especially both. :) My second favorite part was the addiction solo, and my favorite part was the third performer, the juggler, especially the second half of his set. I describe him as \"the juggler\" because apparently my interpretation of his disorder disagreed with what the program said. I had a VERY strong emotional response to that performance (crying on Wumpus) based on interpreting the displayed disorder differently than what I later found listed in the program. I'm sticking with my interpretation and curious if others reach it, too, so I'm avoiding saying either what I thought or what the program said. I would like anyone who goes to see it to not look at the program immediately but make your own interpretation, then report back to me. Thanks!

Psy is only running until the end of this weekend. Tickets are available here<\/a>; click on the date in the calendar. Prices $15-69.

Also, thank you to <\/a>siderea<\/b><\/a>http:\/\/thedailywh.at\/post\/2698034618\/in-case-you-missed-it-of-the-day-jon-stewart<\/a>","comments":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1245984.html?view=comments#comments","category":"politics"},{"guid":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1245240.html","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Jan 2011 17:52:38 GMT","title":"countdown meme request","author":"juldea","link":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1245240.html","description":"First, THANK YOU to all of those who have been placing even just a part<\/i> of your countdown meme under an LJ-cut. That little step means so much.

I have one - just one - request, though. Please go slightly further and LJ-cut the entire thing? Or if you want to keep the \"Day #: task\" part outside of the cut, please only leave the text of the day which you are doing? The entire list isn't necessary.

Thank you so much.","comments":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1245240.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1243170.html","pubDate":"Mon, 20 Dec 2010 18:13:40 GMT","title":"Signal Boost: Veterans for Peace protest at White House","author":"juldea","link":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1243170.html","description":"Thanks to <\/a>etherial<\/b><\/a>Veterans for Peace<\/a>. Veterans...that means something, right? Included were former CIA analyst Ray McGovern and Daniel Ellsberg, the guy responsible for leaking the Pentagon Papers during the Nixon administration.

The few articles that exist online from major<\/a> news<\/a> sources<\/a> completely omit any mention of it being a veterans group. They're just \"anti-war protesters.\"

Oh, and that doesn't count the number of \"news\" organizations that just aren't covering it.

ashdukfahskudfahsdfasdl.","comments":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1243170.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1240564.html","pubDate":"Tue, 30 Nov 2010 18:33:08 GMT","title":"World Record for Carolers","author":"juldea","link":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1240564.html","description":"Hey, singers:

This Saturday at noon in the Boylston Plaza, Boston Pops peoples are organizing an event to try to set a World Record for the largest group of holiday carolers. Also, \"for every person who participates in caroling, the Boston Pops will contribute $1 toward purchasing Holiday Pops tickets for children in underserved communities,\" which is pretty cute.

Further (but not a ton of) detail here: http:\/\/www.bso.org\/bso\/mods\/content1.jsp?id=40400017<\/a>","comments":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1240564.html?view=comments#comments","category":"music"},{"guid":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1239220.html","pubDate":"Sat, 20 Nov 2010 07:16:29 GMT","title":"the whole license plate thing","author":"juldea","link":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1239220.html","description":"For those who aren't aware, there's a pro-life license plate<\/a> available in Massachusetts now. It's been the talk of a lot of debate, and I just looked up the laws surrounding special license plate requests, and wanted to make sure the information was spread.

The law is here: http:\/\/www.malegislature.gov\/Laws\/GeneralLaws\/PartI\/TitleXIV\/Chapter90\/Section2F<\/a> -- I shall summarize:

(a) If you can gather $100,000 and 1,500 people to both sign (with full name, address, and phone number) and to pay $40 each to pre-order a special license plate, you can get a special plate made in Massachusetts. You submit a design to the registrar, and they have 90 days to approve it and make you a design. There is no option written in the law for the registrar to refuse any submission; the wording is, \"The registrar shall<\/i> approve...\" (emphasis mine.)

(b) 3,000 plates will be made in the first two years. If you manage to get 3,000 people to buy the plates, you get your $100,000 back. If not, it will be used to pay for the plates already ordered.

(c) There's a bunch of charities the government likes for these plates. (Honestly, I can't figure out what this section is for. Maybe one of you lawyer-y types can clarify.)

(d) I'll reprint this one in total, adding emphasis: \"(d) The registrar shall design, produce, issue and regulate the use of distinctive registration plates proposed by any agency, charity or nonprofit organization<\/i> that has satisfactorily complied with the conditions and requirements set forth in subsection (a).\" If you do the things in step a, you get a plate. End of discussion. No matter the subject.

So. Yeah. There are plates out there now that express an idea that misquemes me. That sucks. But this law also means that 1,499 friends and I can get together money and order a plate that says something I like but someone else dislikes, maybe even something someone else finds offensive. I like keeping that option available. That's what living in a free society is all about.

What REALLY sucks is that this law isn't obvious, and there will be people who think the RMV and therefore the state government itself is promoting the Pro-Life movement. I don't know what to do about that part.

Apologies if I've made any really glaring errors here. It's 2am, and I should really be going to bed.","comments":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1239220.html?view=comments#comments","category":["politics","ranty"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1238569.html","pubDate":"Tue, 16 Nov 2010 17:09:09 GMT","title":"Awesome custom yarn site!","author":"juldea","link":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1238569.html","description":"Knitters\/crocheters!

This website is awesome!  http:\/\/customyarn.com\/

It's the lastest version of the custom yarn builder from Yarnia, Inc, which is a yarn store in Portland, OR that I like.  (I have worked online with the owner before, and I've visited the shop while in the area.)  It is awesome and intuitive and makes fantastic yarn.<\/span><\/span>

It's still in beta, so give feedback here: sales@yarniapdx.com<\/a>","comments":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1238569.html?view=comments#comments","category":["shopping","knitting"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1236360.html","pubDate":"Thu, 28 Oct 2010 14:51:29 GMT","title":"Stile Antico - early music a cappella \"desk\" concert","author":"juldea","link":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1236360.html","description":"<\/a>laurion<\/b><\/a><\/span> (who runs The Acapodcast<\/a>) pointed me to this today on Twitter: http:\/\/www.npr.org\/templates\/story\/story.php?storyId=130706090<\/a>

It's a small \"desk concert\" (the group came into the NPR offices and recorded there, surrounding people's desks) of the early vocal music group Stile Antico. They're really good.

I know several people reading this interested in pre-1800s music. :)","comments":"https:\/\/juldea.livejournal.com\/1236360.html?view=comments#comments","category":"music"}]}}