...and name it "spelling-nazi" or something, just so I have an excuse to correct people. The thing is, I don't want to seem like a complete prat... but... I like correct spelling. I do. But if I were to just correct people, I'd either have to apologise for it every time, or seem like an obnoxious twat. (Maybe I am, but that's beside the point.)

So here's a list of spelling mistakes that I would like people to know about. Most (so far, all) are groups of homonyms (words that sound the same), so they are more forgivable mistakes. I'm not saying people have to be perfect, but... please make an effort. Please?

Common starters:
their: as in "It's their ball."
there: as in "How did you get the ball in there?"
they're: as in "They're going to have to burn that ball, now."

your: as in "Wasn't that your ball?"
you're: as in "You're going to burn that. Right?"

Some more I've come across but didn't want to make a fuss:
cue: as in "That was my cue to run like hell."
queue: as in "There seems to be a queue of people wanting to hurt me today."
Also, cueue ain't a word. (Neither is ain't, really, but I'm not that anal.)

peek: as in "I peeked at the submissions page."
pique: as in "Oooh, this piques my interest."
peak: as in LEFT AS AN EXERCISE FOR THE READER.

I'm still adamant that there's a difference between check and cheque, but I'll let the American dropping of the u from colour, honour, favour and alike slide.

I'll be adding to this as I come across more. Just because I can.

-Tach

I've been visiting the folks the last couple of weeks. Christmas time, etc. All good (though quiet and dignified) fun. Me and my family get on well.

I had meant to finish off a pic or two before heading off, alas, it didn't happen. I meant to ink a few sketches while away, but not much happened in that regard, either. I reckon tomorrow I'll upload what I did do along with a few sketches that are eagerly waiting to be inked. Then I have to head off to be a groomsman for an old friend this weekend *grumblejealousgrumbleluckybastardgrumble*.

Oh, happy new year and all that. 2007 has been fairly good to me, overall, so here's hoping it continues in 2008. Best wishes to all my watchers... and their loved ones... and, well, everyone, really!

-Tach

PS: Broke 1000 pageviews while I was away. I've been noticedpassing-glanced! Wheeee! I would've done a kiriban of some sort but A) 1000 pageviews is, to be honest, not really all that big a deal, and 2) I'm hardly organised enough for that sort of thing.

PPS: 806 new submissions to check out. I love you FA. :D <3

ROFL

Finished Portal. The ending is hilarious.

Anyone else like me who hasn't given it a go yet, it's worth it. Maybe a little short, but worth it.

I gotta hear that song again.

But look at me still talking when there's science to do.

Yes, I'm late to the party. Eat me. I take pride in not being caught up in damn fads. I wait to see if something holds out after the hype.

Portal seems to have. I'm reliably lead to believe that Portal is, indeed, fun. And the whole Orange Box thing is a pretty good deal, especially considering I held out over all the Half-Life 2 stuff. So I'm finally giving it a try. Portal first.

"...as the effects of prolonged exposure to the button are not part of this test."

I think I'm going to like this. :)

(Running in Linux under Wine, FYI.)

Riddle me that.

Ready.... GO!

What?! No way, this is a joke!! I'm wild, man! I'm a loose cannon! I'm outta control!

Oh, who am I kidding...

---

Are you a bad influence?

If you go over 45, you're a bad influence.
If you go under 15, chances are you live under a rock and have no life... even more harsh.

Rules
*Total the number of things in each list you've done.
* No need to say which ones.
*If people really want to know they will grow the balls to ask.


1. Smoked
2. Consumed alcohol
3. Slept in the same bed with someone of the opposite sex
4. Slept in the same bed with someone of the same sex
5. Kissed someone of the same sex
6. Had sex
7. Had someone in your room other than family
8. Watched porn
9. Bought porn
10. Done drugs
TOTAL: 4

1. Taken painkillers
2. Taken someone else's prescription medicine
3. Lied to your parents
4. Lied to a friend
5. Snuck out of the house
6. Done something illegal
7. Cut yourself
8. Hurt someone
9. Wished someone to die
10. Seen someone die
TOTAL: 6

1. Missed curfew
2. Stayed out all night
3. Ate a carton of ice cream by yourself
4. Been to a therapist
5. Been to rehab
6. Dyed your hair
7. Received a ticket
8. Been in an accident
9. Been to a club
10. Been to a bar
TOTAL: 5

1. Been to a wild party
2. Seen the Mardi Gras
3. Drank more than four beers in a night
4. Had a spring break in Florida
5. Sniffed anything
6. Wore black nail polish
7. Wore arm bands
8. Wore t-shirts with band names
9. Listened to rap
10. Own(ed) a 50 Cent CD
TOTAL: 1 (Go on! Guess which one! I think you'll be pleasantly surprised!)

1. Dressed gothic
2. Dressed prep
3. Dressed punk
4. Dressed grunge
5. Stole something
6. Been too drunk to remember anything
7. Blacked out
8. Fainted
9. Had a crush on a neighbour
10. Had someone sneak into your room
TOTAL: 1

1. Snuck into someone else's room
2. Had a crush on your best friend
3. Been to a concert
4. Dry-humped someone
5. Been called a slut
6. Called someone a slut
7. Installed speakers in your car
8. Broken a mirror
9. Showered at someone of the opposites sex's house
10. Brushed your teeth with someone else's toothbrush
TOTAL: 2

1. Consider/considered Ludacris your favourite rapper
2. Seen an R-rated movie in a theatre
3. Cruised the mall
4. Skipped school
5. Had surgery
6. Had an injury
7. Gone to court
8. Walked out of a restaurant without paying
9. Set something on fire
10. Lied about your age.
TOTAL: 3

1. Owned/rented an apartment
2. Broke the law in the police's presence
3. Cheated on someone
4. Got in trouble with the police
5. Talked to a stranger
6. Hugged a stranger
7. Kissed a stranger
8. Rode in the car with a stranger
9. Been harassed
10. Been verbally harassed
TOTAL: 1

1. Met face-to-face with someone you met online
2. Stayed online for 12 hours straight
3. Talked on the phone for more than 4 hours straight
4. Watched TV for 12 hours straight
5. Been to a fair
6. Been called a bad influence
7. Drink and drive
8. Prank-called someone
9. Laid on a couch with someone of the opposite sex
10. Cheated on a test
TOTAL: 1 (Come to think of it... why is going to a fair a bad influence? What's bad about a fair?)

And overall score is: 24

24, which conincidentally is how many years old I'll be come Saturday. I DEMAND CAEK!

---

Nobody reads this far...

[A] - Available?

Desperatel Yes

[B] - Birthday?

1983-11-3

[C] - Crushing?

Not presently. I don't know enough women.

[D] - Drink you had last?

Water. I'm wild and zany like that. Whoa! You'll never know what I'll do next! I might... go make myself dinner! Just watch me, I'm gonna do it!

[E] - Easiest person to talk to?

My supervisor.

The more I think about it, the more I realise how depressing that really is.

[F] - Favorite colors?

Not colors, color. Colour, actually, but anyway... GREEN!!

532 nm. At work we have a ND Yag laser that outputs 14 Watts of the stuff. 14 W of laser will burn you, bad, and probably explode your eye if you look right at it. I'm not kidding. It's awesome.

[G] - gummy bears or gummy worms?

Erm... whatever they are, we don't call them that down under. Bears? Probably.

[H] - Hometown?

Viva Brisvegas. Well, didn't grow up here, but it's been my home for the past 5 going on 6 years.

[I] - Ill?

Rarely. Except for my mind. I'm completely fucked up. (Think South Park's Tweak, but without the physical traits induced by excessive caffeine intake.)

[J] - Juggle?

Yes. I can juggle any N number of objects, where N is in {0,1,2}.

[K] - Killed someone?

Not recently...

[L] - Longest car ride?

When I was young my family and I drove down to Sydney from our home a few times. About 1 Mm. (Yes, I said megameter, deal with it.)

I puked by the end of most of those trips.

[M] - Milkshake flavor?

Not plain. I haven't drunk the stuff in about half my lifetime, though.

[N] - Number of siblings?

2. Brothers. Older.

[O] - One wish?

Happiness.

The sweet thing about a wish that vague is that it potentially covers fixing everything I dislike about myself. The bad thing is that it potentially ends up with me having a labotomy. I'd much rather the former, to be quite honest.

[P] - Person you called last?

Mumsy.

[Q] - Queer?

What a frightfully personal question for you to ask! How dare you!

No. Well, I could get into a rant about how I believe sexuality is a continuous spectrum, not one of 3 choices, and everyone falls somewhere along that spectrum, but... the quicker answer is no.

[R] - Reasons to smile?

...

...

I like windy days. They make me smile.

[S] - Song you last heard?

(I just realised it was actually the last song on the new Radiohead album, playing on triple-J on my way home from work. But I want to say this:)

Korea, by the Deftones. This is sweet, I have my computer playing me a song every morning at 6:30 to wake me up. The trick is to make a playlist to pick a random song from, but the form of the songs on the list is important. They all have to start quietly, so as to not freak me the shit out, but build up, until absolutely fuckin' rocking out before the chorus. Puts me in a good mood for the day.

If you've ever heard Battle Axe from the Deftones <- this is exactly it. Fuckin' awesome to wake up to this one.

Recently I've been waking up about 20 mins early in anticipation, it's brilliant! And I've only had it on regularly the past couple of days!

[T] - Time you woke up this morning?

6:10. See above.

[U] - Underwear?

Mostly. Though in the hotter months, I sleep commando. Free and easy. :D

[V] - Vegetarian?

Ehh, kindof. The term is "vegepreferian". I prefer vegetables, most of the time. I have fish on a semi-regular basis, and chicken once in a while. I won't have anything else unless someone else has cooked it. I don't cook my own meat. I peel my own vegetables.

Which is another point. Many of my vegetables I prefer raw. Peeled, in the case of things like potatoes, but raw.

Raw potato rocks socks, FYI.

[W] - Worst habit?

Picking the pimples on my head. Seriously, that shit has got to stop.

And hesitating over things.

[X] - Xrays you had?

Arms a couple of times (greenstick fracture in my right wrist as a skiiing accident --- the rest of *that* week-long holiday sure was fun, especially considering the only other thing to do there sort-of required the use of that particular wrist), teeth... I think that's it.

[Y] - Your number of friends on myspace?

I don't do myspace. There's enough worthless verbiage there that I'd rather not add to.

At least here there's pron.

[Z] - Zodiac sign?

Scorpio. But then, astrology falls into the same category as religion, fairytales and New Zealand.



For no reason (well there is a reason, but it's quite complicated, so much so that it probably would've been quicker just to say what that reason was, rather than type out this explanation, but it's too late now), here's a happy kitty: =<^_^>=

I suck at the kitty ASCII art.

---

By the way, that was weak. Surely someone can think up a far more suggestive list of questions than that.

That is all. You may now resume browsing for sweet, sweet furry porn.

No really, I'm serious. Why are you looking at me like that?

It just recently occurred to me that I may have been doing this wrong. I was first introduced to the wonderful little onomatopoeia that is "nom nom nom" as I became more involved in the furry fandom earlier this year.

Nom nom nom. He he. Cute.

Then it struck me. My default pronunciation in my Australian accent is almost certainly not what the author (likely to be North American, as statistics goes around here) originally intended. And so the onomatopoeia is not actually onomatopoeic, and it fails.

Here's the thing. I pronounce "nom" with very rounded lips, a bit like (but not as tight as) the sound you get for saying just the very start of the w in a word like (funnily enough) "word". (I'm sure that's not quite right, but it's hard for me to imagine how to describe it properly to an audience that doesn't often make use of this particular phoneme.)

On the other hand, I now realise that the dominant North American pronunciation may well be what I would consider as saying "Nahm nahm nahm" (with "ah" as in... "Ahh" ). Having thought about it, this makes some sense --- a more open mouthed, more vigorous devouring. For some reason, though, I think my way sounds cuter.

So, then, after all this pointless madness about a silly little noise-phrase, riddle me this: Is my hunch correct?

My line of work usually requires a lot of thought and concentration. You see, I'm a graduate student working towards a PhD in physics at a university. My field is quantum optics, specifically investigating methods of enhanced measurement and other interesting phenomena related to quantum computation. I'm an experimentalist, so when I'm not in the office writing a paper, trying to understand the theory, modelling, or otherwise describing or working out funky quantum mechanics, I'm trying to implement these things in optics, inside a darkened lab, aligning lasers, mirrors, lenses and crystals, setting up counting equipment, and taking measurements.

As you might imagine, this kind of work is pretty mentally occupying. It takes almost total attention to get anything done, so it doesn't afford me a whole lot of time to simply let my mind wander. I'm too preoccupied solving problems. While I'm glad that I'm doing something like this that keeps me so occupied and so fascinated (and financially buoyant - yay scholarship!), I'm also convinced there is a downside.

I've heard in several cases about artists and writers who've gotten their inspiration during long periods of boredom and tedium, and sometimes I wish that, for a brief while, my environment were so conducive to such inspiration. Occasionally I find myself jealous of people with boring tedious jobs, because they are the ones who have such ample time to let their mind wander into the weird and wonderful places that result in beautiful (or, alternatively, hot) artwork and fascinating stories. Maybe this is just a bad stereotype, or perhaps "grass is greener" mentality - I don't know. But I see this in too many places to reject the idea out of hand.

I'd love to be more creative than I am, and I'd like to think that if I could afford so much time to letting my mind go walkabout, then I too could come up with some such complex and involved story. But as it stands now, I'm just not creative enough or I don't have the right environment.

Sometimes I envy people with boring jobs, but then, most of the time, I'm just too preoccupied to think about it.

Brannigan (Cat-person): "My name's Thomas Kincade Brannigan. And this is the bane of my life, the lovely Vallery."
Vallery: "Nice to meet you."
Brannigan: "And that's the rest of the family behind you."
Me: Kittens! Please be kittens, please be kittens...
The Doctor: [Pulls back the curtain behind him.] "Aww that's nice."
Kittens: "Mew. Mew mew."
Me: KITTENS!! GLEEE!!

Just saw that episode. Loving the new series.

Now back to your regularly scheduled program.

Note to self: Don't try to submit two images at the same time in different tabs. Things break. :(