Dullicious.net

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(started on IRC):
I did it again – just totally couldn’t take the joke. I should be aware by now that the inclusion of the word “Iran” (or “Iraq”) in any conversation immediately shuts off any humor receptors in my brain.* My eyes go glassy, I sit up very straight, start spouting statistics and referencing web sites. I am serious, earnest and _painfully_ informative. I’ve got a disproportionate amount of data, passion and desire to talk about this (not just about videos of a young woman dying on the street or politics, but technology, humanity, connection, history, etc. etc) compared to just about anyone I speak to in my every day world (and I admit, it feels very lonely).

It occured to me after I launched into another unechoed allocution on the topic that I might need to come up with an equivalent code phrase to the one used by Summer Glau’s brother in Serenity when she hears a trigger word, goes nuts in the bar and starts wailing on everyone – which he says to make her fall asleep. Something like “pumpkin pie” maybe?

* ok, that’s not totally true. trevlix on twitter has been consistently awesome and pointed and funny.

* and I love that this gesture looks both “V for Victory” with small bits of the Brit “get stuffed” gesture

via ffffound

This reminded me of something beautiful Rudy Rucker said on Boing Boing:

If it was for some reason hard to see clouds, can you imagine how much people would pay for the privilege? Like, if there was only one spot on Earth that had clouds, everyone would be going there and having these big spiritual experiences just from seeing the clouds.

… We get so much beauty for free in life.

I tripped across a film stills site which had images of The End of the Affair, one of my favorite movies and one which I mention often but amongst my friends at least, seems not so widely seen.

Julianne Moore is absolutely luminous:

And Ralph Fiennes’ performance in this movie is simply incredible. I’m astounded at the range of emotions – love, desire, anger, sadness, not just longing but aching – he can express while also visibly, so Britishly, repressing them.

The actors are perfect for the era, the cinematography lush and dark, the story passionate, simple and sad.

I stumbled onto this page (caveat: mind your eyes) when trying to find the lyrics to the hokey-pokey for a friend who was not born in the US and it was like a time warp to the early web – similar in a way I’d imagine to how I’d feel if I time warped back and saw myself in school: amused, nostalgic but glad to not be there anymore too.

It’s a wonderful feeling to encounter a scientific explanation for something one has experienced but never quite understood – in this case the distinctive smell that is discernible when rain starts falling…

Geosmin, which literally translates to “earth smell”, is an organic compound with a distinct earthy flavour and aroma, and is responsible for the earthy taste of beets and a contributor to the strong scent that occurs in the air when rain falls after a dry spell of weather (petrichor). The human nose is extremely sensitive to geosmin and is able to detect it at concentrations as low as 5 parts per trillion…

Petrichor is derived from the Greek petros “stone” + ichor “gods’ blood”:

The scent is generally regarded as pleasant and refreshing… In desert regions, the smell is especially strong during the first rain after a long dry spell… The oil yielding the scent can be collected from rocks and concentrated to produce perfume; however, it has yet to be synthesized, perhaps due to its complexity. It is composed of more than fifty distinct chemical substances.

via TYWKIWDBI

I too love learning these kinds of things and that names sound like characters from a biblical story – magi or young lovers.)

In 2009, Earth Hour is being taken to the next level, with the goal of 1 billion people switching off their lights as part of a global vote. Unlike any election in history, it is not about what country you’re from, but instead, what planet you’re from. VOTE EARTH is a global call to action for every individual, every business, and every community. A call to stand up and take control over the future of our planet. Over 74 countries and territories have pledged their support to VOTE EARTH during Earth Hour 2009, and this number is growing everyday.
- http://www.voteearth2009.org/home/

While I can’t quite get behind this as any kind of election it seems a worthy goal to support and doing without lights for an hour is easy and putting these images on a blog is even easier especially as they’re so beautiful.

Unsurprisingly, perhaps, they’re by the ever-awesome Shepherd Fairey.

I’d relied on a sense of security through very low profile and dullness if not absolute obscurity for this site but I’ve been thinking lately about issues of personal and public visibility on the web and as a person who is actually rather reserved in public, I thought it would be good to make some changes across my different web incarnations.

I’ve started using the password system available in WordPress for some of the entries. Note: though I tend to be the most prolific, especially in the past years, I’m not the only dullicious author and this affects only some of my, not their entries.

I don’t have any idea of who actually follows the blog (not many people I don’t think) and I tend to write as though only one or two friends might ever read it — though I’ve been surprised and honored by the thoughtfulness and interest of people who comment to me on what I’ve written.

If I know you, please send me a mail (amyvdh at gmail.com) or put something in the comments and I’ll send you the password.

I wish there was a more opaque and less obviously anti-social way to write both entries that are casual, public and open to anyone on the web and those that are about more internal, personal thoughts and open to those I know.

I’m happy, in fact, eager, to share those personal thoughts which is why I write these entries and I am very grateful for the feedback I get so I apologize for the clunkiness of this system as I awkwardly try to mediate a comfortable balance of my public and personal selves on the web.

“Baby boys may show spatial supremacy, have robot army, will crush puny humans under foot, reports Science News. I paraphrased the last two points you understand.”

-Vaughan, linking to an article “Baby Boys May Show Spatial Supremacy”, via Mind Hacks Spike Activity

(originally on my tumblr feed but it made me laugh again)

(Did you know I taught myself Welsh? That’s like the Daily Double trivia question of things about me. Consider it your object lesson in how boring Lubbock, Texas actually is. I pick up and lose languages really quickly, if I don’t use them, and dead languages are hard to keep current on so I’m pretty rusty now, but I do remember that the first sentence I put together was “I believe you’re in league with the butcher,” because that’s the always the first sentence you should learn when you learn a new language.)

- Jacob, as in aside in a recap of Dr Who, Television Without Pity