Carol Rutz's Annexe

Here is one of my favorite songs from the 80s, by Slow Children. I first heard of it years ago when KROQ played a selection of songs for the first day of Spring. And since today is the first day of Spring (actually it will start at 1:32 pm EST, 17:32 Zulu Time), I’m playing this to start off Spring.

Here is a classic Sid Davis film about the dangers of gossip. At first glance, it looked like it’s a hit piece on catty girls. Instead, the villain happened to be the popular boy who was rebuffed on his technique. Check out the flat tire trick– I lol’d.

It has been a while since I’ve posted something. I’m still alive and well, posting update at Facebook and shooting the breeze at Fark.

Part of my absence is job-hunting, looking for gigs and full-time work. Still searching, though I’ve got temp work at the end of March.

Another reason is more medical. No, it’s not cancer nor some serious stuff like heart disease or something exotic that the Mayo Clinic would analyze. Prior to February, I dread a certain time every month. (ACHTUNG: Womanly matters are mentioned.) The first few days, I cramped hard that I find myself confined to bed. After my time at Ivy Tech, I realized that these times will affect my job search and my career if I do not treat it. I asked my doctor about some options I have, and figured that some procedures will help me. After thoughtful consideration and theological consultation from my Prediger, I decided to undergo the Novasure ablation plus a tubal ligation. Actually, it was not a problem regarding the Novasure; it’s the finality of the ligation that I was concerned. Since pregnancy after the ablation is very dangerous to the woman, plus the complication will mean a definite peril to the child’s life, I said to myself: The Principle of Double Effect can be invoked. I prayed, I thought, and ultimately, I placed things in God’s hands.

I figured that this would be a short procedure, in the hospital by morning, out in the afternoon. It turned out to be a more serious matter. Bluntly, the doctor found two benign dermoid cysts, one in each ovary. One was so big that they removed my left ovary. The average size of an adult ovary is about the size of those green olives– 3cm by 1.5cm by 1.5cm. The left ovary was about 9cm by 8cm by 6cm, like a clenched fist. The right was saved, though they removed a sizable cyst. The doctor told the Prediger and my pastor that I would be in great pain later down the road if I have not been treated.

After recovery, my parents and my pastor visited me and I felt better than expected. The month came and went, without pain. It was the first time ever that I do not have such pain. I’m really looking forward to busy activities and job hunts without getting held back.

As for my sterility: I’ve made peace about it and knew that God has something in store, a role in life just for me. No kids of my own, but it is filled with days of devotion to my husband…lots of doggie kisses from “Teh Sarah”…tinkering around with Linux…and spending more time with the Church. Best of all, I’ll be the aunt who will spoil the niecelings and nephlings silly– and at the end of the day, return them to their parents. :)

So now, that’s my absence in under 500 words. Now it’s time to resume my antics.

Writing my draft for my upcoming post. I’m doing well, and so is the Prediger. Meanwhile, drop me a line at Facebook.

Before anything else: Prayers are requested for various people. First off, for Haiti. I probably said enough on Twitter, when I was very disgusted at Pat Robertson’s “pact with the devil” comment. My Twitter feed does have a link to legit charities. If you really want to repudiate the Theology of Glory jockeys, give freely…and give it in memory of Professor Kurt Marquart. Second, a friend of the Ohio LinuxFest needs help. Shawn Powers has lost his home and his pets due to fire. Blessedly, his wife and kids are okay. Various people are offering them shelter and the like. Right now, the family needs help getting back to some form of stasis (or “normality”). If you have a few bux, a chip-in is available.

Now…to the main course. Learned about how to pull off the smok(e)y eye, and realized that I needed make-up remover, especially after using the Urban Decay eyeshadow primer. That stuff stays on good! After dinner, Wayne wanted me to procure some butter pecan ice cream. And I did, at WalMart. I was looking for makeup wipes when I found the Hard Candy section, replacing the Max Factor line. I did heard from Nouveau Cheap that WalMart will carry the brand, but I figured that it might only be available in select big cities like Los Angeles or New York.

A bit of nostalgia: I remember going to Bloomingdale’s in Sherman Oaks and seeing the colorful nail polish, each with a plastic ring. I prefer MAC or Urban Decay, so I passed on by. And now, it’s there where I don’t have to order stuff from out of town. Yes, the plastic rings are still on the nail polish. So, I bought two things: a lipstick and a liquid eyeliner. I’m wondering whether this stuff will hold up as good as the products at Bloomie’s.

The lipstick is a sheer matte dark purple called “Night Out” and the eyeliner is in Sugar Plum. Here are the makeup, against my skin and on my lips:

Lipstick is creamy and goes well, and I think the liner is decent but will require a second application to make a even line. Will try them on this week and write a review.

Here is a countercultural Thanksgiving song, for those of us who are more likely to sit at the “Group W Bench” than the adult’s table on Thanksgiving.

Alices Restaurant – Arlo Guthrie

Here is a 1967 safety film, to break the silence.

The past few weeks was busy, with Security class and other matters.

A few weeks after Ohio LinuxFest, I attended the Ontario [GNU] Linux Fest in Toronto with several fellow OLF members. It was the first time I ever visited Canada. When not attending the lectures, I visited the Pacific Mall and Market Village at neighboring Markham. Went to buy some kawaii stuff but a bit disappointed at the lack of decent stickers (Sanrio, San-X, Q-Lia) available. I will have to pick them up at the Kinokuniya bookstore in Beaverton, Oregon.* At One’s Better Living, I found some Code Geass Knightmare Frame models. Wanted the Lancelot, but the really nice one was around 100 bux. I should have gotten the Gloucester, as it looked the best. Maybe for Christmas. (Who needs jewelry when you can have Code Geass?) Ate regularly at Pho 777 across the street at the convention.

This week, I’m doing lab sims and starting on my 10 page paper on cryptography. And as the semester draws to an end, I will have to take my cert exam. If I pass the cert, I may gift myself with the Gloucester.

*There are various reasons why one should travel to Portland Oregon… Pine State Biscuits, Powell’s…and OSCON. OSCON is back to its proper location and this time, I’m bringing the Prediger.

Here is something that I want to share with the Ohio Linuxfest crew and those who will be attending the Diversity In Open Source workshop.

Kirrily Robert’s presentation focused on the Dreamwidth project. 75 percent of the coders are female. This is a far cry from what we’ve seen.

Check out the 6:06 mark. “Neurodiversity is a feature, not a bug.” If only one professor realized that earlier, I would have been serving the Church instead of starting anew.

I’m completing my final class for my AAS, a Security+ class. Was going to take a class on PHP, but figured that there is a huge glut of code monkeys looking for work. (Heard too much rumors about programmers getting laid off, especially in Portland.)

Got Ubuntu installed with wireless and sound cards working, thanks to an Ubuntu forum. Yay!

Ohio LinuxFest is coming along, and been writing an article on why it’s important for students to attend this conference. It will be published shortly on the OLF website. Also, you can follow us at Twitter: @ohiolinux.

Forget about the gays…the breeders are doing a fine job screwing up marriage.

Read up and savor the irony.

Tomorrow, the speakers list will go live, but I’ll share a bit of what’s going on. Most of the speakers have confirmed their presence, and we’re looking forward to celebrating 40 Years of Unix! We has several people planned for the fest. Here’s a sampling: Jorge Castro will be there, presenting “Building a Community Around Your Project.” Mackenzie [maco] Morgan will have a sysadmin-oriented talk on the differences between Red Hat and Debian. Fort Wayne LUG’s Vern Ceder is doing Python for Linux System Administration. And for our keynotes, we have Dr Douglas McIlroy and Shawn Powers.

This year, we also have a “Diversity in Open Source” workshop. No matter your background, you are welcome to contribute to Open Source.

We got the banners available online for linkage at Flickr, and Klaatu has done a great job with the design.

I’m hoping Twitter gets fixed soon, as it has been h4×0r’d. Will have to publicize via Identica.

This is not quite misGuidance Theatre material, but just the nifty thing to view. Some guy with the nom de Web “Swamp-Ass” has pieced together vintage drive-in intermission clips. Great stuff. I remember my family going to the Van Nuys Drive-In…four bucks per carload, and we’d get out the cooler and enjoy the movies. I did remember Splash and Beat Street as some of the films that we watched.

Am awaiting further news with the Ohio Linuxfest guys, especially in regards to speakers. I know that one guy got the nod as he’s with the Fort Wayne LUG.

I recently got a new lappy, an ASUS K50IJ, as my HP went busted after 3 years of service. Did not go for the eeePC or any small netbooks as I preferred a larger laptop. I’ve upgraded Vista to Windows 7 RC and it worked great. But it took me a while to install the right Linux distribution.

Ubuntu Jaunty did not recognize my sound card nor my wireless card. Fedora 11 balked at installation. MEPIS (another Debian-related distro) had the same trouble as Ubuntu, and Crunchbang (an Ubuntu-based distro) failed to load. I finally decided to install Sabayon 4.1, which is Gentoo-based. I got online easily, but needed to fix up the ALSA driver. I rather deal with the sound not working than the wireless not working. I’ve been typing “equo” at the terminal and so far, no problems compiling.

It was a pity that I cannot get Ubuntu running on my new lappy as it’s a user-friendly Linux flavor and the blokes at Indiana Ubuntu LoCo are great guys. The Prediger liked the dark-colored theme Sabayon installed by default. It was different from the brown palettes Ubuntu offered.

Got paper to finish, and am prepping an upcoming post regarding the Ohio Linuxfest.