NOEXTEHO

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The other day, I saw a girl who I recognized from having seen her photo online. I've seen her at my work a few other times, and yet each time is very, very awkward.

• First, she's extremely attractive. That, sadly, always makes things awkward for me.
• Second, the whole online thing is weird. Before nerdiness was as accepted as it is today, I trained myself to avoid talking in public of anything remotely nerdy. I'm untraining myself these days, but still, if you mention a webpage to me in public, you might notice a quick flash of revulsion. Don't worry, it's (probably) not you, it's me.
• Third, she's not the one posting herself online. Her husband is the photographer. She's not the main subject of his photos. In fact, she's probably in only 5-10% of them, if even that. Only someone like me who's been following her husband's photography for a couple of years would really have seen enough photos of her to recognize her as quickly and certainly as I have.
• Finally (and this is the kicker): in several of the photos, she's (tastefully) nude. She's aware that her husband is posting nude photos of her and she's OK with it, but still...

So, my interactions with her are simply: smile a little too large, point her to her book, quickly look away.

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I just realized that now that summer is definitely over, it's officially been over a year since I had a girlfriend. Unofficially, I'm not even sure if that one counted as a girlfriend, so it could have been an even longer time. But honestly, I don't think it really bothers me. This isn't a dry spell so much as it is disinterest. Or, actually, I suppose I've been interested, but I've just let logic get the better of me. Lately, the girls I've been most into have been totally totally wrong for me. The aforementioned photographer's wife. The ditzy, annoying blond. The model-hot party girl. The painfully naive girl I only talk to because I like her hair. The lesbian customer with the androgynous girlfriend. These are the girls I've contemplated asking out lately. What the hell is wrong with me? Either I need to get my logic synchronized with my lust, or I need to ignore one or the other. Until I start doing either, I'm fine being alone. Hell, I have been getting a lot of programming done lately, after all...

Holy shit. I'm kicking myself for not having thought of this myself:

(Photo from Café Mode)

Apparently, I make "art":

I think it started when I listened to the latest song posted on Arawa FM. And then I listened to it again. And again.... And again a few more times. Meanwhile, I was looking at every single photo on Rankin's website. Then, while still looking at Rankin photos, I happened across this Front 242 song I had never heard on Constant Siege. And I listened to that over and over too. And for some reason the concept of listening to Front 242 in a Camero stuck in my mind. Then I found myself listening to the whole Ministry - Twitch album. And then those ZYX and Front 242 songs again. And then I downloaded a few Front 242 albums.

Then, before I knew it, I had downloaded a ton of Camero photos and turned them into what you see above.

Yes, this is embarrassing.

Take that, INTERNET.

Go there. Go there now.

But be prepared to be saddened, as I was, for that is a memorial site to dead Star Trek actors. At the top, it's got the biggies, like DeForest Kelley and James Doohan, but then it proceeds to list what can only I imagine is a complete list of everyone else who ever acted on any Star Trek series and is now deceased.

I dare any Star Trek fan to scroll through that list and not tear up. Especially you TOS fans.

What really got me, though, was the actors who you know mostly from other things, such as...

...Kevin Peter Hall

(who played both the predator in Predator and Harry in Harry And The Hendersons)

...David Graf

(who played Officer Tackleberry in the Police Academy films)

...Andreas Katsulas

(who played so many great characters, such as G'Kar in Babylon 5)

...Vincent Schiavelli

(who also has played many great characters, such as John O'Connor in The Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai Across The 8th Dimension)

All dead.

[Note: This is a rant, instead of a triumphant return to blogging. Sorry, Lin.]

I've never really understood trackbacks. Sure, I get that it's nice to know who's talking about your blog and what they're saying, but do the readers have any interest in that at all? I think trackbacks are pure internet litter for everyone except the blog's author. Shouldn't the blog author(s)/admin(s) be the only one(s) who can see all the trackback junk? And even then, wouldn't it be more useful to have the trackbacks appear as some sort of RSS feed?

And, more existentially, how do the trackbacks even get there? Surely a blog doesn't spider the web for mentions. Do bloggers add trackbacks by hand, then? Or do the popular blogging systems just go and post trackbacks automatically? I don't think I like the implications of automatic trackback posting. Is there some way I can avoid doing that?

Trackbacks should be disabled on this blog. If you ever see one appear, tell me about it, please, because it probably means that I accidentally enabled it in one of my messing-around-with-the-site binges.

Here's a video from the scorpion cam:

And here's a video from the tarantula cam:

See more at MAP's Flickr page. (found via kottke.org)

UPDATE: Try MAP's YouTube page instead of the Flickr one. Also, I've now changed the embedded vids to get them working again.