Monthly Archives: May 2004

Bizarre tale of boy who used internet to plot his own murder

What was this guy thinking?

Mishmash – Monday Madness

1. What was the name of the last movie you watched (dvd, vhs, theatre, or tv)?
Raising Helen last night at the theater, it was fun.
2. What were you doing on the internet before coming here?
Poking around trying to see if any of the students in the school district where I work blog (or have sites) on the net. I know some do, but the search engines didn’t pick them up…
3. What color of pen do you usually write with?
Blue or red.
4. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone?
Hmm… Mark? (on his way back to the Detroit area from Lansing.)
5. When is your birthday? (month and day)
September 11th (every year).
6. How organized is your computer desk?
Not even close to organized, neither is my computer desktop.
7. How many calendars do you have in your house?
Zero.
8. Do you clip coupons and use them when doing your grocery shopping?
I used to, now I cut them and either forget them at home, leave them in the car or they are out of that item at the store…
9. Are you a morning person or a night owl?
Night person. Always have been, but lately I’ve been more disciplined.
10. Did you enjoy your weekend?
It was okay, got caught up on some sleep, grocery shopping, laundry and some computing. Saw friends which was nice…

From Monday Madness

My categories

I really don’t like my categories as they stand. I either want to expand them or shrink them. I’m really thinking of trying something else so I can ultra categorize everything. I’m thinking:

  • TECH: gizmos, apple, computers, portable
  • MEDIA: movies, books, tv, images, joan
  • PEOPLE: family, friends, kids, strangers
  • ME: blog, meme, family
  • INTERNET: web, blog, portable
    Supposedly WordPress is pretty diverse in this manner, but I’m not sure if it’ll cross-reference (like have the FAMILY under ME be the exact same as the one under PEOPLE).

  • Imagine the world with NO text

    notextThey redo photographs and separate the images from the text. ” With the removal of all traces of text from the photographs, the project explores the manifestation of power between large groups of people in the form of public and semi-public language.”

    Raising Helen Review

    raisinghelenI really enjoyed Raising Helen. Kate Hudson plays the spacy, cute, successful who’s everyone’s favorite aunt quite well. The women I went with (Kelly & Dawn) thought it was a little cheesy, but I disagree. And it was a good family movie, not sure what the rating was but if the kids are interested, take ’em. It was pretty much what you’ve expect from the previews, so if you didn’t like, don’t see, and if you did, go check it out!

    Now here’s the weird part – there was a cartoon that appeared to be part of the movie about this cat with a possessed tail that was attacking him, it was very strange, possible not so kid appropriate (it was kinda creepy) but I’m pretty sure it had the Disney brand at the beginning of it. Very odd.

    First ‘weekly bit’

    1. What are you favorite things to do during the summer?
    Rollerblade, picnics, read and sometimes bicycle.
    2. Are you an outdoors person?
    Not so much.
    3. Beach, pool or lake?
    Ocean or river. I like the water noise…
    4. What are you favorite summertime memories?
    I loved being on campus at MSU in the summers. Very relaxed, quiet (and so were the classes). Summer plays outside. I liked being down by the river and it was fun when the baby animals came around, it was always a blast to see the baby ducks being trained how to navigate the rapids…
    5. Will you be going on vacation this summer?
    I hope so. I just mentioned London to my friend Mark, I know (for some unknown reason) he’s dying to go there. I’d love to be there when it’s nice, so….

    From The Weekly Bit

    RE: Blogs – 7

    1. Why do you read other blogs? Is it voyeurism? Curiosity? Are you just being nosy?
    Hell yeah! It’s interesting. Sometimes it’s like “what will they post this week?” and “don’t they realize their kids’ll read this some day?!?”. And sometime’s it’s to keep up with friends or technical information.
    2. What is it that keeps you coming back to the blogs you read, regularly?
    Sometimes to fine out the next chapter of their “soap opera”, or the next quiz, or goofy thing their kid did. Sometimes I read it just because I stopped by for a meme…
    3. Do you leave a comment on every blog you read? If not – what is it that motivates you to click the “Comments” link?
    No, should I? I usually only speak up if I have something to say. I agree, disagree, know the “right” answer, etc. Sometimes it’s just a friendly I remember how that feels, it’ll better, etc. And I’ll comment (or trackback) when i do their quiz/meme/etc.
    4. Speaking of other blogs you read regularly . . you know the protocol by now – list’em!
    Didn’t we just do this last week? I would update, but I blew out my bookmarks this week, so I’m back to last weeks (thank God for backups!) bookmarks. Oh, I’ve added one I remember… But it hasn’t been updated much since I found it drunkenbee, and I always check out the Movable Type start page since they list recently updated MT blogs.

    From RE: Blogs

    $1,000,000 – Fun Stuff RAOJ

    You are given a gift of 1 million dollars (kindly adjust for currency in your location). There are some restrictions on how you can spend some of the money, as follows:

    $100,000 must be donated to charity. What charities will you support?
    Probably the two different shelters and the crisis hotline that I’ve volunteered for.
    $100,000 must be given to one person that you know. To whom do you give it? What would you expect him/her to do with it? Would you put any restrictions on its use? Would it make a difference if you could make the donation anonymously?
    Probably my Mom. She’d have to use it for travel (off of this continent) but I think I’d force her to learn computers first so she can take pictures and post, blog and send e-mail while she travels. She can take a friend, but she’s gotta take a different friend/relative on each trip(?)
    $100,000 must be given to someone who has recently been in the news. Who gets it? Why?
    Hmmm… I don’t watch/read enough news and everyone I hear about is bad… I’m sure I could find some deserving person/family who’s had some hard times, or needs something to get their business back together.
    $100,000 must be spent on a public beautification project. You can build a park, commission artwork, etc. What do you do, and where do you do it?
    There is a boring little park down the street that would be nice if it were redone maybe something with that.
    $100,000 must be spent on a memorial to someone/something that you have loved and lost. What form does the memorial take? Who is it for?
    The Frank Hill memorial computer lab / reference center for the Berkley Public Library (with WiFi). Grandpa got me interested to think about things: science, technology and to read a lot. I remember going up with him to that library when I was a kid.
    $50,000 must be spent studying something you have not formally studied. What will you study?
    Astronomy, I always wanted to understand it better.
    $50,000 must be spent establishing a scholarship. What’s it for and who will you name it for?
    It would be for students to offset school costs and to get them up-to-date with technology (nice laptop, printer, WiFi, PDA, iPod, TV, Stereo, subscription to NetFlix, iTunes store, etc.) so they can have some of the cool comforts…
    $50,000 must be given away in a contest. What kind of contest do you hold?
    A Michigan teacher web site contest. We’d supply space or they could use their own. They keep the site up for one school year. At the end we give five $10,000 prizes. Best content. Most updated (with real content). Best Design. Best Page/Post. One random (as long as they actively used it for a whole year).
    $200,000 must be spent doing as many things as you can on your “lifetime to do list.” Always wanted to see Alaska? Take a boat trip on the Rhine? What things would you do first?
    Travel like I never have before (and it’d all be first class!), some cruises, Paris, Egypt. Having a child is one my list so I’d be working on that too!
    That leaves you with $150,000 of mad money. If the rules say you can’t spend that money on things that might be termed “practical,” what do you buy on your spending spree?
    Geek out the house with more gizmos and such. Probably the same for the car (DVD/MP3/Player). One of those new infrared outdoor grills. TiVos, iMacs and home theater systems for all my family and friends. One of those cars that will go in the water like a boat. There isn’t much I need but I’m sure I could figure out a way to spend it.

    From Random Acts of Journalling