So I'm up in Framingham tonight and the house is FREEZING. Why? Because I didn't realize the automatic heater thing was set to stay at 55 while Emily and Brian are away for the week. It's now midnight and it's finally heating up enough to where I don't need my coat on.
March 2004 Archives
Philip K. Dick: "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." [Quotes of the Day]
For some reason in one of my dreams last night I was baking my shoes and I'm really not quite sure why. But I was happy that they got some nice scorch marks.
From Gizmodo, a revolutionary new mousepad.
Via jenett.radio, and without any extra comment: The Circus of Disemboweled Plush Toys
Here's a nifty little OS X program that was mentioned on Forwarding Address: OS X. It's called Quicksilver. I have many friends who love a program called LaunchBar for launching things, but for some reason it never really clicked with me. But there's something I can't put my finger on about Quicksilver that I like. It's got some really slick features in there. Even if you are a LaunchBar user you should check it out, it's free (and still beta, so be warned).
I also found a handy tutorial for Quicksilver while reading through the forums.
Kasia posted about cooking (in reference to a post on Jeremy Zawodny's blog) and included a nice recipe to try. I've long thought that the reason most people think cooking is such a bit deal is that they are afraid of it. To me that's the fun part of cooking. Trying out a recipe and seeing if it works. Cooking also doesn't that time consuming.
The thought that just popped into my early morning, pre-coffee brain is that many people look at cooking a lot like how they look at using the computer. I'm not fully sure what that means, but maybe coffee will help (mmm, Dunkin Donuts).
Jeffrey Zeldman's The Daily Report talks about CSS and the hassles of it (and why it is worth it).
Every time I design a site in CSS I hit the same wall where the logic works, the CSS and XHTML validate, and the display is perfect except in Browser X, where it is so bad I need to start over. Every time I hit that wall I curse Browser X and myself and the client and the W3C and Ben and J-Lo, just because. [The Daily Report]
I just ran into this kind of thing earlier this week. I've been working on a web site for someone and there were all kinds of things that just weren't lining up correctly. Both IE and Safari had some neat little glitches I was bumping into. But in the end things worked out. But I certainly spent a lot of time cursing Microsoft and IE. My parents must have thought I was possessed or something.
In the end though, it's just another step towards me writing better HTML and CSS.
Ahhh, nothing like a four hour power outage to shift your day into slow gear. It was actually nice, I read almost all of Volume 2 of Furuba, drained the rest of the power on my GBA, and took a nice nap.
Mostly from Boing Boing, but also from Davezilla.com
- Flying Gernsbackian vacuum cleaners
- Gummi Bear Experiements (soaking and melting)
- Aerogel (I want some of this stuff)
- Holy Water?
- Magenetoids
- and, last but not least, The fine line between clever and stupid.
Near-Sighted (Tele)Vision
Paul Allen sold TechTV to Comcast Corp. yesterday for below $300 million. Allen took a loss on the station, which he unsuccessfully tried to fold into his own cable network, Charter Communications.
But rather than continue to build on TechTV, which currently employs about 300 people -- and which features programs such as "Robot Wars" and "Spy School" -- Comcast intends to merge it with its video game network, G4. That network employs 200 people, and layoffs are expected. [Fast Company Now]
I heard about this yesterday, but hadn't really read much about it yet, but really hope things go well for the TechTV side of this. G4 has always seemed like an interesting experiment that never quite worked. I'm hoping that Comcast keeps TechTV mostly as it is and folds parts of G4 into that programming. As long as they don't get rid of Morgan I'll be happy (though I'd hate to see anyone over on TechTV get dumped).
Oh, one more thing before coffee:
Ninja! You are a sneaky Ninja. We don't even know you're there... before it's too late!
Monkey, Ninja, Pirate, Robot?
brought to you by Quizilla
Rock. Ninjas Rule! And at least I wasn't a monkey
[Quiz originally seen over on apophenia]
I just read an interesting post over on misbehaving.net by Danah Boyd that made me pause and think for a bit. She asks:
So, i have to ask... what kinds of social/emotional support does technology provide you? How? Is this about supporting everyday interactions or providing access to a whole new world of support? [misbehaving.net]
I think it's a combination of supporting everyday interactions and providing access. For instance, almost all my friends have email. It provides a nice way for trying to plan events and keep in touch randomly. Even when you don't have time to call someone and chat for a bit you can always sent off a quick message saying 'hi'. On the other side of things, I've been mudding for, uh, longer than I want to admit and I can say that has given me access to a whole other level of support. I have people I've known online for years who I have never met face to face who I consider to be friends. We've known each other through school, through some of us getting married, some of us getting divorced, children, and so on. I'm connected to those worlds pretty much all the time, and check in on them during the day much like I do email.
I may add to this a bit later, but it's early and I need coffee before writing anything more.
I slept kinda weird last night, it felt like I was tossing and turning a bunch, but I just woke up and I feel oddly refreshed, so I think I'm going to be doing a tiny bit of blogging before crawling downstairs to make some coffee.
Word from Geneon is that the Limited Edition version of the R.O.D. TV box will be sweet. From AnimeonDVD.com:
The LE version will not be a traditional Artbox. Instead, it will be a faux-leather book with DVD trays instead of pages with room for the rest of the ROD the TV series. Both the LE DVD Book (as we will refer to it) and the regular edition will ship with limited edition two-sided pencil boards that feature the artwork from the R2 cards. [AnimeonDVD.com]
Very slick. I didn't know until a day or two ago that this was coming out so soon over here, and now this news? I'm psyched. This has ended up being one of my favorite shows of the past year or two. I loved Read or Die and was a bit nervous about R.O.D. TV when I first heard about it. But the show just plain rocks. It takes place a number of years after the OVA (six I believe) and focuses on three sisters who are paper users and Yomiko Readman's best friend, Nenene Sumiregawa. Yomiko Readman has been missing for a number of years, having vanished sometime after the OVA. The show has a different feeling than the original series (which I found to be kind of like a summer blockbuster action movie). The storyline is a bit slower paced, having to spread things out over 26 episodes, but it still can pack quite a punch when it wants to. The characters in the show are wonderful and I have decided that the tallest sister, Maggie, is my favorite. She's quiet, likes to read, and likes being in small enclosed spaces, so she sleeps in a closet under the stairs (kinda like Harry Potter, but it's smaller I think). And the show also had a pretty decent ending, something that is too often missing from anime.
So I give this show two big thumbs up and a bunch of stars. I loved it. If NewTypeUSA has episode one coming up sometime soon I definitely suggest checking it out. This is one release I'll be getting the day it comes out on DVD over here.
Amazing scientific discovery! Dinosaurs leave butt prints!
Scientists Find Dinosaur Tracks in Utah
SALT LAKE CITY - Amid well preserved dinosaur footprints along what used to be the shores of a prehistoric lake in southern Utah, scientists have found the rare signs of a dinosaur's posterior.
...
It appears the 20-foot-long dinosaur, likely related to dilophosaurus, sat down, stood up, walked a few paces and sat down again before walking away. [Yahoo! News]
John Russell: "Sanity calms, but madness is more interesting." [Quotes of the Day]
Larry Gelbart: "One doesn't have a sense of humor. It has you." [Quotes of the Day]
From a few sources (But most notably Neil Gaiman) : Beware the Cat with Hands
For me, the smell of home is fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. Yesterday I had this urge to make some, but didn't actually get up the energy to do it until just a while ago. Now the last batch is in the oven and I've got piles of cookies to enjoy. And the house smells like cookies. Yay!
I also used mom's big mixer to make them, which I have to say is just so much easier than using a hand mixer. When I get my own place again I am going to have to get one.
For those of you looking for a new web game addiction: WEBoggle. You can play Boggle over and over and over again. You can blame jenett.radio for this one.
Edit: Bah, it seems to crash Safari randomly.
William Gibson: "The 'Net is a waste of time, and that's exactly what's right about it." [Quotes of the Day]
Via a MUD I hang out on, The Accidental Video Game Pron Archive.
Ogden Nash: "People who have what they want are fond of telling people who haven't what they want that they really don't want it." [Quotes of the Day]
J.J. Jackson, an original MTV VJ...
J.J. Jackson, an original MTV VJ passed away yesterday. [Adam Curry: Adam Curry's Weblog]
I remember going over to a friend's place regularly to watch MTV and way back when, since my parents didn't believe in cable at that point in time. That was back when you had to have a special box to get MTV in stereo!
I'm pretty sure I know exactly where that ATM must be, since I spent way too much time in Baker hall when at CMU.
ATM Crashes to Windows Desktop
Yesterday, an ATM in Baker Hall at Carnegie Mellon University crashed, or had some kind of software error, and ended up displaying the Windows XP desktop. Some students started Windows Media Player on it, playing a song that comes preinstalled on Windows XP machines. Students took photos and movies of this.There's no way to tell whether the students, starting with the Windows desktop, would have been able to eject the ATM's stock of cash. As my colleague Andrew Appel observes, it's possible to design an ATM in a way that prevents it from dispensing cash without the knowledge and participation of a computer back at the bank. For example, the cash dispensing hardware could require some cryptographic message from the bank's computer before doing anything. Then again, it's possible to design a Windows-based ATM that never (or almost never) displays the Windows desktop, failing instead into a "technical difficulties -- please call customer service" screen, and the designers apparently didn't adopt that precaution.
A single, isolated failure like this isn't, in itself, a big deal. Every ATM transaction is recorded and audited. Banks have the power to adopt loss-prevention technology; they have good historical data on error rates and losses; and they absorb the cost of both losses and loss-prevention technology. So it seems safe to assume that they are managing these kinds of risks rationally.... [Freedom to Tinker]
I'm not sure I want ATMs running any commercial OS. I want them to run something custom made to only be an ATM, not something that also doubles as a desktop.
Just a heads up for those of you who missed this the first time around and wanted to see it, Fox is repeating the first episode of Wonderfalls tonight at 9/8c. Definitely check it out (or tell your TiVo to if you are so enabled).
Dorothy Parker: "This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force." [Quotes of the Day]
Just when I thought I couldn't be surprised by the plots in anime shows one comes along and smacks me silly. I was reading Anime-Empire's web site and came across this:
Midori no Hibi - Midori's Day
Sawamura Seiji is a 17 year old high school student. He is good at fighting and is feared by all the students. His one weakness is that he is terrible with romance. He is known for his right fist, whose punch can knock out anyone.
Due to his bad reputation, he spends his youth without a girlfriend. At the peak of his loneliness, he wishes for a girlfriend. At the same time he makes his wish, a voice shoots trough his head saying "really?!" and before he realizes, a girl wakes up on top of him.
On top of his right arm where his right hand should be that is!
She introduces herself as Kasugano Midori. She's attending another school, but has been in love with him from childhood. Even though this strange event has happened she still believes in herself and in her love for Seiji as his "Right hand lover." From that day forward Seiji and Midori live a strange, amusing and secretive life together.
Based on a popular manga, look forward to this exciting new romance comedy with the same type of humor as Tenshi na Konamaiki ^_^
I really want to know what drugs they are on over there, because it sounds like they must be really good. I found some copies of the manga and am going to check it out I think.
Okay, this looks just too damn cool.
Toy rollercoaster with inversion and electric lift-hill
Caines sez, "Coaster Dynamix is taking pre-orders ($499.00) for a kick-ass roller coaster model kit. The coaster kit has an electric lift-hill and an inverted train. They attached a camera to the train and included this footage in the video that is on the site." Link (Thanks, Caines!)
[Boing Boing Blog]
Can't. Stop. Laughing.
<Cthon98> hey, if you type in your pw, it will show as stars
<Cthon98> ********* see!
<AzureDiamond> hunter2
<AzureDiamond> doesnt look like stars to me
<Cthon98><AzureDiamond> *******
<Cthon98> thats what I see
<AzureDiamond> oh, really?
<Cthon98> Absolutely
<AzureDiamond> you can go hunter2 my hunter2-ing hunter2
<AzureDiamond> haha, does that look funny to you?
<Cthon98> lol, yes. See, when YOU type hunter2, it shows to us as *******
<AzureDiamond> thats neat, I didnt know IRC did that
<Cthon98> yep, no matter how many times you type hunter2, it will show to us as *******
<AzureDiamond> awesome!
<AzureDiamond> wait, how do you know my pw?
<Cthon98> er, I just copy pasted YOUR ******'s and it appears to YOU as hunter2 cause its your pw
<AzureDiamond> oh, ok. [bash.org] [via elthar]
Paedophilia expert abused girls
An expert who advised on how to protect children from paedophiles has been jailed for seven years for the "systematic abuse" of three young girls.
Stephen King, 54, who also recommended sentences for child abusers, had sex with a 10-year-old, a court heard.
King, of Herne Hill, south London, pleaded guilty to 21 counts, including sex with a girl under 13, and 10 cases of indecent assault. [BBC News]
Here's my expert advice. Background checks. Very complete background checks.
Otto von Bismarck:"When a man says he approves of something in principle, it means he hasn't the slightest intention of putting it into practice." [Quotes of the Day]
I want to make one of each.
Japanese foldable robots
More foldable, glue-able PDFs -- this time, it's ultra-fab Japanese paper robots.Link(Thanks, Skye!)
[Boing Boing Blog]
I love the smoking robot.
People often ask me why I blog, and I can't always explain it very well. But having to answer this question has made me think about it a lot. I used to think that I like to blog because I like to write and it give me an outlet for that creative urge. That's true, but it is also true (as I have learned) that I like to do it because blogging has made me more aware of other bloggers. And the more blogs I read, the more I learn.
For example, today I learned a trick from Instapundit: if Amazon has your lawn mower for sale (yes, they sell appliances) they may even have the manual for download. Which is handy if you lose your manual, as Glenn Reynolds did. [Ernie The Attorney]
I know this has been true for me. I've also found that I tend to blog things so that I'll be able to go back and find the information at a later time. It's kind of like my backup brain for random information.
A diagram of the history of Unix. It also has versions you can download and print out (it's 17 pages long). [via Compendium]
I've managed my own blogroll for a few years now. But I've decided to try a bit of an experiment and see how Bloglines works. It looks kinda cool so far. I've got some other ideas for it that I want to try out also. One neat thing is that I can see how many other people on bloglines are subbed to my feed.
If your site isn't on the left and it used to be I either spaced on adding it or you don't have an RSS feed, sorry.
Every video game needs a flying pig. Especially one with fart powered jet boots.
Last night I decided to check out Wonderfalls, a new show on Fox. It was quirky and fun and I'm expecting Fox to cancel it in about 3 weeks because I love it. Fox seems to love teasing us with shows like this. Just when we're happy that something cool is on TV, they pull it.
On the other hand, Fox has done a really nice job promoting this show. The website for it is pretty cool, offering a music video of the theme song (which is by Andy Partridge and quite cool. I already bought it at the iTunes music store) as well as a commentary track for the first episode (that I'm listening to now while rewatching it).
Definitely check it out, it fits very well in the timeslot right after Joan of Arcadia.
Also in the "Best Headline Ever" Category.
Teens Pledging Sex Abstinence Often Fail-Study
Wed Mar 10, 2004 09:38 AM ET By Jon Hurdle
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - U.S. adolescents who pledge not to have sex until they are married have about the same rate of sexually transmitted diseases as other teenagers and they often fail to keep their pledge, according to a study released on Tuesday.
The study of a nationally representative sample of about 15,000 youths aged 12 to 18 found that 88 percent of teenagers who pledged to remain virgins until they are married ended up having sex before marriage. [Reuters.com]
Back on March 3rd in 2001 I officially started this blog. Prior to that I'd had a news page that I posted regular updates to, but didn't ever keep an archive of them or anything. Upon discovering Blogger.com I decided to have that manage things for me and the rest is history.
This week on Slate's diary is a journal by a double-lung transplant recipient.
On Feb. 2, I awoke two minutes before the alarm went off. I have cystic fibrosis, and in those days, most mornings were characterized by some respiratory distress until I got in a few good coughs, cleared a bit of mucus to make way for air, and adjusted my supplemental oxygen. But for some reason, that morning I didn't have any panicked breathing and could take a moment to watch the light coming up and my fiance Jeffrey resting beside me. When the alarm sounded at 5:30, Jeffrey and I sat momentarily in each other's company. Then came the call. "Miss Quigley? Good morning. We have a new set of lungs for you this morning. We would like to start the process." "Excuse me?" was all I could say in reply.
I feel almost contrite admitting it, but I had been listed for a double-lung transplant for only two weeks. If you know anything about the plight of patients waiting for organs in America, you'll know that my experience is an aberration. Most transplant recipients wait months, years. I was given a projected wait of at least six months. I always knew I would need a transplant someday, but at that point I had undergone the evaluation as more of a precaution, in case my recent, critically declining health didn't make its characteristic upward swing. I wouldn't admit to being an "end-stage" cystic fibrosis patient, and I certainly never thought I would have a transplant so quickly. [Slate.com]
This has been great to read, even if freaked out by it.. There aren't any surprises as far as what is ahead with this, but seeing it in print seems to drive it home. I still remember the first time I read about lung transplant over on Roger Steven's New Lungs site. It scared the crap out of me and really drove home just how serious all this lung stuff is. He also has a journal of his time post transplant, which is a pretty amazing read.
Will I blog my transplant and recovery when all this finally happens? I still haven't decided. I do think I'm going to equip my mom with my camera and have her videotape what she can, or maybe even see if I can be set up to do some kind of video diary. Not necessarily for ever posting, but for myself. One thing I do know is that if I can I will still keep blogging through the whole thing. It really all depends on things like internet access. Tthough I could always just write up the posts and have my parents actually post them later.
From an LJ I read, a link to Christian Porn!
Basically stated, the purveyors of this faith-laced garbage have focused on the oldest gimmick known to film hucksters: Promise the viewers some raw pussy or bare dick, and they’ll pay a lot of money to see it. With that in mind, take a peek at Debbi Does Sodom, a 35-minute VHS opus distributed by Saviour Video, complete with a rendering of the “Christian” fish on the logo.
Debbi, played by Tanya Yorke, is an American tourist in the city of Sodom who goes to a bistro, where she meets several men who invite her to a private party at their clubhouse. Debbi accepts and relocates to a seedy ballroom where techno music is throbbing relentlessly. She takes a tablet of Ecstasy and falls into a drugged trance, dancing seductively to the music, then having wild sex with four men at the same time as the copulating group undulates in rhythm with the music.
Suddenly this exceptionally erotic tableau is shattered by the appearance of a police assault team, which bursts through the doors with guns drawn. Debbi’s paramours are brutally beaten, and she is marched nude from the clubhouse into a waiting van. There she encounters two “Christian” evangelists who do their best to help Debbi regain the road to righteousness, by preaching to her and quoting Scripture as the van speeds away through the night. The film ends with Debbi, who has been saved and is now a born-again “Christian,” wearing a choir robe and plastered with lots of cosmetics, singing the glories of Jesus. [Too Much Coffee Man Magazine]
For those of you with TechTV, I highly recommend Last Exile. It begins airing tonight at 10pm. There is a trailer for the show on the Last Exile web site. I highly recommend giving it a look.
I just had one of those moments that makes you realize how much everything is connected. Tonight after dinner I happened to notice that my mom had just gotten the most recent Wesleyan alumni magazine and happened to mention that one of the blogs I read is by a Wesleyan alum. I then started telling her about John Perry Barlow's blog and mentioned his posts about when Spalding Gray disappeared back in January.
Just now I pulled up CNN.com and noticed that they'd found his body. Maybe I'll rent Swimming to Cambodia this weekend in memory of him.
Now you too can see The Exorcist in 30 Seconds (and re-enacted by bunnies). For additional amusement, there is also Apocalypse Now in 30 Seconds (and re-enacted by bunnies).
Oh my, and that site has all kinds of other Flash silliness too.
From my friend Emily.
3-Headed Frog Found
Frog Also Has 6 Legs
Wildlife experts in Britain are stunned by the apparent discovery of a frog with three croaking heads and six legs, Local 6 News will report Friday night. [www.local6.com]
I want one of these. Can someone please please please please buy me one?
He may be a representative of the dark side, but it's hard to resist those tiny horns and cute chubby red body. At 4 1/2 inches long, our stylish and strange Devil Duckie Drive is a High-Speed USB 2.0 (1.1 compatible) personal data storage device for people who are going places.
The tea bar down the street from my parent's place has wireless. I know where I'll be doing some work from tomorrow.
Game Girl Advance has a post up about a marketing survey that sounded pretty interesting.
The phone rang at 9am Sunday, interrupting my sleep-in. "Hello," a low male British voice said, "I'm calling from Future Publishing in the UK - do you have time to answer a few questions?"
It was a cross-Atlantic game marketing survey. "I'm going to list a number of movies and books. Tell me if you've seen them, read them, heard of them." Then he had me assign a number value - 10 would make a "brilliant game" and 1 was not worth mention.
Goodfellas? Godfather? Donnie Brasco? Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels? A Bronx Tale? Gangs of New York? The Untouchables? The Magnificent Seven? Guns of Navarone? The Great Escape? Reservoir Dogs? Pulp Fiction? Kill Bill? La Femme Nikita? The Professional? The Good the Bad and the Ugly? Apocalypse Now? The French Connection? Thunderbirds?
...
Then he asked me what books, movies or TV shows should be turned into games. What a terrific question! I hadn't given that much thought before. I thought of a million movies and books, but it was too easy to imagine the type of game they would be. I wanted to name media that would be challenging, and perhaps beautiful, different virtual worlds for rewarding exploration. My first choice was easy:
One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. What kind of game would that make? My interviewer hadn't heard of it - I sent him to the bookstore.
What great work would you want to see translated into a game? [gamegirladvance.com]
This makes me think of a game I had years ago called The Dark Eye, which was based on some of Edgar Allen Poe's work. It was pretty cool, but didn't really work that well as a game for me (though it was cool living out some of the stories).
I'm not sure what other things I'd want to try as a video game. The comments at game girl advance have some interesting ideas, like Hard Boiled Wonderland. My personal feeling is that books could make great settings for games. I'd like to see more cases of game designers starting with a universe from a book or movie and creating something interesting and original. The best recent example I can think of is KOTOR.
A bit over a month ago I posted a link to a puzzle with a bunch of old video game marquees. A friend of mine just IM'd me looking for help with a very similar puzzle, this time with movies. AIE.
At first I thought this must be a joke, but it doesn't seem to be.
Killington residents endorse plan to join New Hampshire
KILLINGTON, Vt. — Voting with a thunderous “aye,” residents endorsed a plan Tuesday for this ski resort town to secede from Vermont.
The overwhelming voice vote inside the elementary school opened the next chapter in what could be a long and costly push to join New Hampshire, a state 25 miles to the east. Town officials estimated between 200-300 people attended the meeting, and that about two-thirds of them supported the idea in the voice vote. [theunionleader.com]
Is it possible to have part of a state inside another state?
It's about time.
DEA Approves Trial Use Of Ecstasy in Trauma Cases
Capping a 17-year effort by a small but committed group of activists, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration has agreed to let a South Carolina physician treat 12 trauma victims with the illegal street drug ecstasy in what will be the first U.S.-approved study of the recreational drug's therapeutic potential.
The DEA's move marks a historic turn for a drug that has long been both venerated and vilified.
Ecstasy, also known as MDMA, is popular among casual drug users for its reputed capacity to engender feelings of love, trust and compassion. The government classifies it with LSD and heroin as a drug with no known medical use and high potential for abuse.
Although the study's approval is by no means a federal endorsement of uncontrolled use, it will give ecstasy's proponents their first legitimate opportunity to prove the drug can offer medical benefits.
"MDMA opens the doorway for people to feel deep feelings of love and empathy, which is the core of being human," said Rick Doblin, president of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies in Sarasota, Fla., the nonprofit research and educational organization funding the trauma study. "We should be looking at that and learning from that." [Washingtonpost.com]
The trailer for Casshern looks pretty fucking amazing. Thankfully welcomerain over on LJ produced a translation of some of the web site for the movie.
While I was showing that trailer to a friend, he pointed me at one for a french film called Immortal that has that same kind of look. Hopefully both of these will get some kind of release in the US.
As I mentioned earlier, my grandmother died a week ago last Saturday. Since these things don't stay live on the web forever I decided to reproduce it here.
Evelyn Mary (Czapkowski) Wehrly
WEHRLY, Evelyn Mary (Czapkowski): Evelyn Mary (Czapkowski) Wehrly, 84, died Saturday, (February 21, 2004) at Avery Heights. She was the widow of James Herman Wehrly. Born in Hartford, August 24, 1919 daughter of the late Vincent and Agnes (Stolarz) Czapkowski. Evelyn grew up in Hartford, graduating in the Class of 1937 from Hartford Public High School. Trained as a secretary, she held several positions, beginning with her first job at the Department of Labor, and going on to serve as a legal secretary to Walter Downes and Albert Nevins. She retired after working as an executive secretary at the Eastern Virginia Medical School. For many years Evelyn and Jim lived in Hartford and Glastonbury, moving to Norfolk, VA in 1973. A devout Roman Catholic, she was a parishioner of Holy Trinity Church in Norfolk, and was also a member of the Ladies Auxiliary of the VFW and the Polish American Society of Tidewater. Evelyn is survived by her daughter, Eleanor Blake and her husband, Dale of Hartford; her son, James Wehrly of Sunset Beach, CA; a grandson, Gregory Blake of Cambridge, MA; two granddaughters, Rebecca Blake of Kennar, LA and Megan Wehrly of Seal Beach, CA; a great grandson, Cameron Casso of Kennar, LA; a sister, Helen McGee of Wethersfield; and a brother, Raymond Czapkowski of Rochester, NY. She was predeceased by a son, Joseph; and a brother, Henry. Evelyn will be remembered for her zest for life, the warmth with which she and Jim welcomed all who entered their home and the wonderful meals that she prepared for them. Her family would like to thank all of her friends from Virginia and Connecticut who have helped out so much during the past few years, and the staff at Avery Heights and The Hospice and Palliative Care of Connecticut VNA sponsored by Masonic Care for the special care provided to her. Friends may call at the Ahern Funeral Home, 180 Farmington Ave., Hartford, TODAY, Feb. 23 from 4-8 p.m. Funeral Procession from the Ahern Funeral Home will be Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 9:15 a.m. followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 10 a.m. at the Church of St. Patrick and St. Anthony. Burial will be in Mt. St. Benedict Cemetery, Bloomfield. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Hartford Public High School Alumni Scholarship Association, c/o John Gale, 363 Main St., Hartford, CT 06106.
Published in the Hartford Courant on 2/23/2004.
First off. Rabbit Rabbit. I actually remembered to say it this morning (well, mumble it in a half asleep state). This past weekend I packed up my stuff and moved it to my parent's place in CT. It's been a pretty emotionally draining experience, especially since it was combined with my grandmother dying a week before I moved. I want to send a big thank you out to my friends who were able to give me help during the month last month. If it wasn't for Emily, Brian, Sean, and Chris I wouldn't have been able to do it. Extra thanks to Chris for helping in the final stretch. I think by the time she left I had lost the ability to be able to think in more two word sentences.
Sunday was a recovery day. I wanted to do a bit more organizing of all my crap, but just couldn't handle it. So I decided that I'd be starting off fresh with the new month. It feels like I've gone through a major spring cleaning of both my stuff and my brain. Now it is time for the spring scrubbing. I've started going through my stuff and organizing it by things I'll need right away when I move again and things that either will stay in storage or just go away. I'd done a bit of it while moving, but it was all pretty overwhelming.
So far I've gotten my computer set up in the room I'll be using when in CT and working on making it a bit of my own place. Next will be to set up a bag of stuff to keep in the car for when I'm up in MA. You folks up in the Boston area won't be able to get rid of me, because I'll be up there a lot and am still looking for work up there (and am still maintaining an address too).
Hopefully I'll be back to posting a little bit more regularly now that this is taken care of. Look forward to some posts of me rediscovering the Hartford area some. At the moment I'm on the lookout for a nice cafe that has wifi access. Hopefully the tea shop down the street from my parents has it.
