Yvette's Inner Geek Blog

I've made some basic changes to the existing Geek Test, which basically amounts to adding a couple more questions and updating the outdated bits (like adding the third movies for Lord of the Rings and the new Star Wars Trilogy).

Ben seems to think that I shouldn't post what I would call version 3.2 because it still needs a good overhaul. But that is a more daunting task every day, considering the backlog of incredible suggestions that I have received from people in the past few years. I figure the least I could do would be to put up the slightly enhanced version.

Not many people comment on this blog, especially since the Great Accidental Comment Deletion a couple months ago (I wish I could bring those comments back!). But if you have an opinion on this matter, please leave a comment for me regarding the Geek Test version 3.2 question. Should I post it or wait until I can release Geek Test version 4.0 with fanfare?  

Posted by Yvette at 10:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: Geek Test & innergeek.us

Sorting through things the past couple days had left a small stack of books on my desk, including "Four Queens: The Provencal Sisters Who Ruled Europe" by Nancy Goldstone, published this year. I picked it up at a used bookstore in Brooklyn while I was there (staying with my aunt) on business in early October. This is the first time since then that I picked it up.

"Women, too, felt the allure of poetry and rambled around the south of France composing songs; they were called trobairitz. Although known today primarily as songwriters, they were also by turns journalists, political columnists, war correspondents, gossipmongers, actors, writers, directors; they were satirists, pageant artists, spin-doctors, and spies."

 Neato, I say, and I think I might enjoy reading this book during my 4-day Christmas weekend. Especially if it continues to be, according to the dust jacket blurb, "a compulsively readable narrative" that "shatters the myth that women were pawns in a society that celebrated physical prowess and masculine intellect."

I do love a good myth-shattering. 

On a more personal note, I had a bunch of crap to finish at work today, so I was the last one in the office. Add on top of that the fact that it looks like there is no company bonus for me this year and I didn't even receive well-wishes from the company.  So I popped open a dusty bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon when I came home and retreated to my office. It's been a very long time since I've had wine, and after only one glass I'm starting to feel more relaxed and more pleasant. I'll probably not feel the same way tomorrow, especially if I have another glass with dinner (boxed lasagna is in the oven now). But I'm enjoying it now.

Posted by Yvette at 06:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: Feminism | Food, Drinks & Dining | History & Genealogy | Nerd Alert | Personal | Reading, Writing & Books

I didn't realize that Green Day's "Jesus of Suburbia" (track number 2 on the American Idiot album) was just over 9 minutes long. There aren't many bands who can record a good 9 minutes of anything, but I think that they do. I know they've suffered some flack from people who feel that they exchanged their punkier Dookie days for more mainstream tunes, but I love 'em as much as I did in 1994. One of my favorite lyric snippets from "Jesus of Suburbia" is this, especially the second line:

Oh, therapy can you please fill a void
Am I retarted or am I just overjoyed 

Not sure exactly why I like it, but I know that the pretty music certainly helps.  

Posted by Yvette at 11:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: Music

Posted by Yvette at 12:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: Holidays | My 3 Cats

The article in the Roanoke Times seems innocuous enough: Tech trio seeks market for new game. But hey, open it up and read and you'll find two things:

1. These guys from Virginia Tech have created a NEW text-based online game (remember Zork?) in the middle of a graphics-whoring gaming society.
   
2. Michael Ringenbach is a friend of mine from college who won the title "Geek of the Year" at the 2001 Geek Party.

Are these guys crazy? Perhaps. But I think it's pretty gutsy (and geeky cool) to move forward (and yet somehow backwards) with a text game. Then again, maybe not... the popularity of texting among teens (God, I sound old) is soaring and most phones could handles this kind of gaming on a mobile level... and it would make sense that if people became addicted to the story, it wouldn't matter if there were no mind-siezuring graphics like World of Warcraft.

I just got another email from Mike saying that the game is definitely not yet ready to be released, so you can't play it for a while. The website isn't quite ready, either. So hopefully he'll let me know when those are ready so that I can pass them along to the readers of this blog (and maybe the website, if I ever update it....). Speaking of WoW and his in trueness to gaming and geekhood, Mike also wrote this:

On the more geeky side of things, I'm working on my third 70 for World of Warcraft, with 2 other retired 60+ on a different server. 

Best of luck to you and your geeky buds, Mike.

Posted by Yvette at 08:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: Friends & Relationships | Gaming | Geek Test & innergeek.us | Geeky | News Bites | Teh Interweb

The wedding reception on Friday evening was very nice, and my friend/coworker was beautiful and happy and put together a great party. I would just like to confirm that there was no alcohol or coffee served, as I suspected. (There was coffee at Ben's office party on Thursday, probably because of the number of "outsiders" who have recently moved to Utah for their jobs, like us.)

There were only a handful of people I knew at the reception, all through work. So when the dancing started, we weren't keen on joining the hordes of siblings and cousins rocking out to Snoop Dog and other songs like Fergie's "My Humps." Quite the difference from the classic crooning of Sinatra-type songs that had been playing as we came in and ate dinner. Whenever I hear "My Humps" (which is not that often), my mind drifts to one of my favorite music videos: Alanis Morissette on YouTube singing "My Humps" in her own style.

Love it!

Anyway, that was the second Mormon wedding reception that I've attended since moving here (Ben's first). It was more of a typical, semi-formal wedding reception (appetizers and mingling, dinner buffet, speeches, photos, cutting the cake, dancing), than the "open house" reception style that is more common out here (bridal party stands in a receiving line almost the whole time, guests arrive to say hello and eat from a buffet and then leave whenever).

We went to bed pretty soon after we got home Friday night (because we're lame). This weekend has mostly been spent cleaning, eating and shopping with a little holiday decorating and present-wrapping. There is still snow on the ground outside, but it's struggling to blanket the yard completely because the sun is shining and the temperature is hovering right around freezing. It's supposed to stay cold throughout the next week, with a 60% chance of snow showers on Christmas (according to the weather.com 10-day forecast, that is). Woohoo!

Posted by Yvette at 02:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: Around Town & Beyond | Food, Drinks & Dining | Friends & Relationships | Holidays | Personal | Politics & Religion

Last night, Ben and I drove to his company's Christmas party. It started snowing late afternoon, so getting home from work and then driving back the same way (argh) through stupid traffic was... stupid. But we got there in time for a yummy dinner and an interesting jazz band concert immediately following, where talking was not really encouraged... so we felt trapped and wondered what was going to happen after the band stopped playing jazzy versions of Christmas songs. Well, the party ended and people went home, that's what. Oh well.

But I was in a major panic yesterday because I had nothing to wear... and that even forced me to go to the mall last minute to try to find something. And a Christmas miracle occurred, because I found an amazing green dress (not a real green dress, that's cruel) that fits well, covers my scar and dammit all if I don't look kinda purdy in it, too.

Which is great, because I'm wearing it again tonight at a semi-formal reception of one of my coworkers (they were married earlier today in the SLC Temple and I'm not a "Temple-ready" Mormon so naturally I wasn't invited). I have already ended my work day because it's a long drive up to the University of Utah area of SLC through Friday rush hour traffic.

I started to recover from all that stress (see my last post) after I found the dress. I hugged the salesgirl I was so happy.

More later. I have to go be social for the second night in a row. Ack! Weird! I'm looking forward to my regular stress levels returning late tonight when we make it back safely from the party. Don't worry, I doubt there will be alcohol there (or even coffee). I'll keep you posted.

Posted by Yvette at 03:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: Around Town & Beyond | Holidays | Personal

It's not that late, but I've already gone to bed and tossed and turned enough to make me give up and just get back up. Phoebe is keeping me company by sleeping in her basket next to me.

I needed music. In order not to wake my sleeping hubby in the room across the hall, I pulled down my old headphones and plugged them in to my computer speakers. They're nice noise-cancelling headphones that I borrowed from my parents' house when I went to college and never gave back. The leatherette that covers the padding is flaking off, so I don't feel like my parents would really want them back at this point.

It's refreshing to blare a little Ben Folds Five directly into my brain without having external noise. I've been using the standard earbuds that came with my iPod at work (I don't listen loud enough to really block out much office noise) and when I listen at home, I just use my regular speakers. These old, flaky headphones really make me feel the music up close, without other distraction (even white noise distraction of an early morning sleeping house).

It wasn't so long ago that I would put a CD in my stereo, lie down on the floor and lose myself for an hour while listening to music through these headphones. In my bedroom at my parents' house, in various dorm rooms and college apartments, in the living room of my first apartment with Ben. I think more often than not, I came closer to finding myself while losing myself to the music. 

So tonight, this rare headphone experience is just the kind of magical calming treatment I need to help me settle down and maybe get some sleep.  I'm tired, but I know that my eyes need to feel heavier before I try lying down in bed again. Maybe I'll just sit back and listen to music until the crap that's causing my late night anxiety goes away.

And maybe I'll listen to music through these magical headphones more often. 

Posted by Yvette at 01:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: Box of Chocolates | House & Home | Memories | Music

Lately, it's been really dry here in Utah. My eyes have been stinging and my contacts have become impossible to wear. So now I keep thinking that my blue-eyed coworkers suddenly have a greenish tint in their eyes... until I realize that I'm looking at the world through an anti-glare coating on my glasses.

And yes, the joke about Utah being a dry state in reference to alcohol still applies. I've heard that there are only 6 bars in the entire county, and I don't think I've ever even seen a sign for one. Not that I'm a big bar-hopper, but yeesh is that a scary statistic. At least there are now two Starbucks in the county. I'm praying (to any non-Mormon god with reception in Utah County) that another coffee house, Starbucks or not, will come to life closer to where I live.   

There are things I really like about living in Utah, but I'm having a harder time with the whole area right now for some reason. Maybe it's the early darkness instead of the glorious sunshine that I grow accustomed to during every season but winter. Maybe it's the Christmas season preparing me for the arrival of three spirits to make me appreciate everything I have. Maybe it's just good old Seasonal Affective Disorder.  Blah.

Things that have been pissing me off:

• Unattentive, rude, careless and/or bad drivers. Lack of turn signals, excessively dangerous cutting off, not using headlights during a gray daytime snowstorm (25% of cars, by my estimation), going when it's not their turn at intersections, slowing down to 40 mph on the freeway a mile before the exit, etc. IDIOTS!
• People who don't acknowledge me, let alone say thank you, when I hold open a door for them.
• A high level of religion-related conversations in the workplace. It's not that I feel harassed because I'm not Mormon (though I can think of one specific instance that made my blood boil). It just seems to me that many of the conversations I overhear (or am directly involved in) would not happen at work in other areas of the country. Then again, people's personal lives here overlap with the church so much that it's probably impossible to have that separation of church and state for which our forefathers fought so dearly.
• LDS/Mormon everything everywhere I go.
• And finally, so that I stop bitching about everything else: our house. It's just not what we envisioned it would be after almost two years of living there. It's better than it was a year ago, though, so at least I know that we're making progress.

Posted by Yvette at 06:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: Around Town & Beyond | Friends & Relationships | Holidays | House & Home | Politics & Religion

"...Won't you blog about this song?"

Yes. Yes, I will, because it is awesome and riffs off my man Billy Joel. And so, courtesy of YouTube (irony... check!), I bring you "Here Comes Another Bubble."

Posted by Yvette at 11:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: Politics & Religion | Teh Interweb

I'm going to lunch with the somewhat large group of Sales and Marketing people from my place of employment. We're going to The Happy Sumo, which is a boon* for people who like sushi. I'm not included in that group, so I'm going to hope that whatever chicken or vegetarian thing I order will be tasty and not smell like seafood (particularly shellfish; actually eating that stuff will cause hives and possibly anaphylaxis).

We're also having a White Elephant Party. Before, during and after lunch, probably. I took a picture of the gift I'm bringing, but naturally the memory card reader has disappeared again. This year I'm asking Santa for a shiny new built-in memory card reader for my computer. That way the little naughty elf who hides CDs, the camera and its accessories, and other pertinent equipment can't walk away with  it anymore.

Said elf, however, has been doing a lot of laundry... and for that I could kiss him. Especially because I *know* that it's a different elf who mysteriously leaves hangers all over the house.

Anyway, I'll ask Ben to help me find the card reader later today. Meanwhile, I have to accept that I'm not going to win the contest for "Cheesiest Christmas Sweater or Vest" that is also occurring at lunch today. I didn't go to the thrift store, and (thankfully) I don't think that I own one that would really even qualify. But I have to go check the really-needs-to-be-donated pile upstairs to see if I still have a red sweatshirt I got as a gift in 1992 that might qualify. 

*Out of curiosity, I checked the etymology of the word "boon." It's from the Indo-European word "bon" or "bone" which means "prayer." So by not saying "blessing" like everyone else here in Utah County, I'm still effectively referencing religion by using "boon" in its place, albeit in an archaic manner. Unfortunately, I was not using the really cool definition of "boon" that I plan to use sometime (somehow) in the near future: "the ligneous waste product obtained by braking and scutching flax."

Posted by Yvette at 08:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: Around Town & Beyond | Box of Chocolates | Food, Drinks & Dining | Friends & Relationships | Holidays | Personal | Politics & Religion | Reading, Writing & Books

I had a nice lunchtime break with a former coworker (and now pregnant stay-at-home mom) today whom I haven't seen in several months. Julie and her little 20-month-old girl picked me up and we went to Starbucks.

It was nice to catch up with her, and nice to remember why we became friends outside of work in the first place. It can be hard to find friends as a post-college adult, so I really appreciate the rare ones with whom I click nowadays. I just need to do a better job at balancing my "busy schedule" with staying in touch and hanging out.

A twenty minute drive is not as far as Seattle or Cincinnati or Chicago or Denver, where my far-flung but still-dear friends live. 

It's also nice to realize that there are other people around my age who feel like they don't have many friends. Ten years ago, in college, friends were easy to come by and easy to corrale into social gatherings.

Such are the hazards of getting older and moving away from your core group of friends (or having them move away from you).  That would be one benfit of the old-time society in which people were born, lived and died in the same place. Friends and relatives all around. Adventuring out in the modern world can be exciting, but a bit lonely at times.

I think I'm homesick; I just don't know where the place is that I would call home.  

(Is it schizoid paranoia or just existential blues?) 

Posted by Yvette at 12:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: Friends & Relationships | Personal

The huge pot of Cincinanti Chili that I made on Saturday?

We're still eating leftovers. I think we have to take a night off tonight and maybe put the rest (it doesn't look like much) in the freezer. 

Posted by Yvette at 09:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Tags: Food, Drinks & Dining

We have a couple leaky skylights that need to be replaced on our second floor. The people we've had come out to look at them have advised us to get a roofer to do the actual installation on our steeplu-pitched roof so that it's done properly and without anyone falling from great heights. Also, for some reason, the people who sell skylights around here don't necessarily install them. That's a little weird.

So after months of trying to decide what type of skylights to go with (hey, those venting puppies aren't cheap, and we wanted to be sure... especially since once we replace them, we'll have the added work and expense of fixing the damaged drywall) we finally ordered them and had a roofer lined up to install them.

Well, we called the roofer two weeks ago and he said he'd call us when he was ready to come out in a day or two... and then when we didn't hear back we called him again. And he still hasn't called back.

So now we're stuck with the skylights in the garage and nobody to install them. Grrr. We're obviously not going with the guy who flaked out on us, but our options are also limited because back before we even ordered the skylights, I got a list of three roofers from the glass manufacturer who never called us back. Well, I got a hold of one and set up an early appointment for which he was late, then canceled when I called, and then never called back. And now the weather is all crappy and there's snow covering the roof.

I am not really impressed with contractors here in Utah County. We've had a lot of them come out to our house for various reasons over the past (nearly) two years, and very few have even been worth considering (if they showed up at all). Do they not want to work? How do they make money?

Or the question that is unfortunately on my mind in this area's church-based, semi-small-town society: are they not interested in our business because they don't know us through a Mormon friend? I'd hate to think that's true, but sometimes I wonder. And I feel like a heel for writing that, but I occasionally get prejudice vibes from the native Mormons here (rarely from people who've lived outside Utah, though). I think they might be scared of me sometimes, which is really weird. I don't think I'm scary.

The next step: ask our friendly neighbors for roofer recommendations. I bet if we go to the "neighborhood" party at the local church this Saturday, we'd have a roofer installing our skylights in no time. Sigh.

Posted by Yvette at 08:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: Around Town & Beyond | House & Home | Politics & Religion

Evel Knievel died on Friday from a one-two punch combo of diabetes and pulmonary fibrosis. His death was not related to on-the-job hazards like jumping on his motorcycle over 13 buses in London or 14 Greyhound buses at King's Island in Cincinnati. (Therefore, crocodile hunter Steve Irwin wins the medal for horrible and yet not that surprising death due to on-the-job hazards.)

I wasn't even alive during his heyday in the mid-seventies, but he was definitely an icon whose legacy carried over into my eighties childhood and beyond. I vaguely remember an elementary school presentation on safety with a "bad example" guy named Evel Knievel who rode a scooter around the cafeteria/gymnasium and crashed to prove a safety point. I don't remember him jumping over any buses, though. What a lametard.

This AP article provides a eulogizing summary of the real E.K.'s life, and includes this quote from a television executive who was attacked by and had both of his arms shattered by Mr. Knievel:

"He was a true daredevil, but he basically was not a good human being."

Wow. I try not to care too much about what every single person on the planet thinks of me. But you can put "she was basically not a good human being" on my list of things that I hope aren't said about me while I'm alive or anytime after.

I wonder how the AP reporter(s) who captured that quote from Sheldon Saltman reacted when he said it. Did they nod with knowing approval? Did their jaws drop with astonishment? Did they whine, "No he wasn't, he was my hero!"

Interestingly, many similar articles don't include that particular quote.  Maybe because stating that he was not a good human being only hours or days after his death is just. not. cool. At least wait until his family has given him a 21-engine-rev salute, dude.

Posted by Yvette at 12:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: Memories | News Bites

Yesterday, Ben and I put in both leaves of our walnut-stained-with-black-painted-and-distressed-legs wooden dining room table (the first big furniture purchase for our house that I absolutely love) so that it would seat 10. We only have six matching chairs, so I also used the four chairs from the cheap light-oak-and-white kitchen table set that I received gratis from a moving coworker last year.

We invited over two couples, plus their combined total of six kids, plus one couple's out-of-town guest, for a dinner of Cincinnati Chili last night. I never made it myself until I moved away from Cincinnati and couldn't find any Skyline or Gold Star Chili resaturants within spitting distance, like I had become accustomed to. Brianna's going away gift of some canned Skyline chili didn't last long into our move to Utah. So I found several recipes online and have experimented a little with their various ingredients over the past two years, and I have settled on a recipe as the one that I have personalized and will keep in my collection.

I made a double batch of it last night for our 11 guests (we squeezed in one extra 9-year-old at the table and set up two 6-year-olds at a folding TV-tray table in the kitchen) and it went over very well. They were all very shy about the cheese, even with me telling them to pile it on. The oyster crackers (Premium brand was the only kind I could find at the store... in Cincy there were always many brands from which to choose) were the biggest hit with the kids.  It was a challenge to serve everyone at once, and I ended up having to make a second pot of spaghetti.

The most exciting thing about serving that many people was to finally be able to use the looooong black tablecloth I had purchased for the looooong table, which I dressed up with a sparkly red table runner from Target and a quickly-made centerpiece (a tall, thin glass vase--that originally held flavored olive oil--filled with red glass pebbles and a fake poinsettia flower). It looked awesome, and I was so happy that I had chosen a black tablecloth because there weren't any stains after I washed it today! Overall, I enjoy playing hostess... I guess those 4 years working at a hotel weren't totally without long-term benefit.

Anyway, here's the recipe! 

Cincinnati Chili

(serves about 8)

Chili Ingredients:
1 tbsp. canola oil
½ cup chopped onion
2 lbs. ground beef
½ cup chili powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cumin
¼ tsp. ground allspice
¼ tsp. ground cloves
¼ tsp. ground cayenne pepper
1 bay leaf
½ oz. unsweetened baking chocolate
2 cans (10.5 oz each) beef broth (low sodium preferred)
1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce
2 tbsp. cider vinegar (or white vinegar)

Other Ingredients for Serving:
Spaghetti
Kidney beans
Diced onion
Lots of finely shredded cheddar cheese
Frank’s RedHot (or other liquid fire sauce)
Oyster crackers


Heat oil in large stock pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring frequently until tender, about 6 minutes.

Add half a can of beef broth. When that starts simmering, add the beef in batches, breaking it into small pieces with a wooden spoon, until browned. Add the rest of the beef broth slowly, as the meat is cooking, to keep it very moist. Continue breaking up the meat in the simmering broth until it is all browned.

Add chili powder, cinnamon, cumin, allspice, cloves, cayenne pepper, bay leaf, chocolate, tomato sauce and vinegar. Stir to mix well. Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 1 ½ hours, stirring occasionally.

Serve immediately or refrigerate overnight and then gently reheat over medium heat. Remove the bay leaf before serving.

Serve in a wide bowl over hot, drained spaghetti. Top with warm, drained kidney beans and/or diced onions (both are optional), then pile on the cheddar cheese. Splash on some RedHot if desired. Serve a small bowl of oyster crackers on the side, which are great when soaked in the juices at the bottom of a near-empty bowl.

Makes great leftovers (if you’re lucky enough to have any). 

Posted by Yvette at 05:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: Box of Chocolates | Food, Drinks & Dining | Friends & Relationships | House & Home