Charles Babbage's Difference Engine

There's one in California at the Computer History Museum.

And one at the Science Museum in London.

NPR had a story on it this morning.

Babbage's Engines hold a special place in my heart largely because of the novelsThe Difference Engine and The Diamond Age, which for me pretty neatly bracket the origin and the future-history of Steampunk.

Also because in a roundabout way they gave Tilda Swinton the opportunity to make Conceiving Ada.

Enjoy.

Might just try for 5 minutes, see if she shrinks or something ;)

At the end of the NaNoWriMo challenge, the total number of words for the book proper was 25068 words.

I combined the book with the notes to get a grand total of 51315 words for the win (a win with an asterisk -- I accomplished my goal of a 25,000 word first draft, and ended up writing 50,000+ words on the topic, but about 7,000 of those words were written previously.) So I kinda won.

Since then, I have removed words (some that I really wanted to get rid of -- repetitious, much?) and added words, and it currently stands at 25246 words. Have also experimented with adding hair to my head, then putting a coif overall, following the instructions from attack_laurel's site. My conclusion is that it is very sturdy. I followed her illustration and put the bun low on the back of my head. I think putting the bun closer to the crown would get the point of the coif closer to my hairline, instead of lying so far back.

More writing, analyzing, and a bit of editing in the future. Have found myself reading my book sources again, though, which is good.

Time spent: guessing at about 6 hours to the end of November, and another 40 hours of work on it after that.
Number of coifs and forehead cloths (combined) : 161
Number of nightcaps: 60 for a total of 221 examples found so far.

Unrelated to the "Get off mah watermelon" photo, but what is up with "the butt face" that cats do?

They sniff another cat's butt and then hang their jaw open for a couple seconds, like they are keeping the stench in or something.

Any idea what this is about?

Oh. My. God.



<--Not Happy.

Twenty-seven days until vacation.

...to Plimoth, that is. We leave today, and see the jacket this evening.

*anticipation*

So my two kitties and I spent the day cozy at home watching the world deal with the over 15 inches of snow we go in central Iowa. Late in the evening I caught this lazy scene!




Good to know cabin fever isn't bothering them!

Today I volunteered for Carol's Ferals for the first time and played with kitties for a couple of hours. What a hard job, huh... haha.

Here are some teaser pics, the rest are located here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarieh/sets/72157622845567981/









Expect more pics next week. :)

ALSO SOME GOOD NEWS:

Not sure if I updated you all when this happened, but I did get Molly-Moo back a few months ago, and after I move into my new apartment, I am getting Macaroni and Cheese back, too! I AM SO EXCITED. Mac and cheese aren't coming until January though, almost a year after I sent them to a foster home with my friend, Keith, and his mom.

I have had Fergi for five years as of December 4. He was roughly 11 months old at the time so he is about a month away from being 6,



( Fergi flashbacks )

Welcome to the Caaave of Wonders.


( +5 )

ETA a few more >.>
( Read more... )

On December 9, 2005, my roommate and I were asked to take in an abandoned cat. Through all the changes in this past year - my boyfriend moving in, my roommate moving out, and our adopting a kitten - she remains my sweet, spolied girl.

Happy Anniversary, Mollie!



( More pics )

Shadow, my dear friend, has done me the very great honor of asking me to take part in her Laureling Ceremony Saturday at Kris Kinder. Her ceremony is built along the lines of Lull's discourse on the Seven Courtly Virtues. I get to talk about courtesy. Now, I try to be courteous, I strive for it--really I do!-- but let's face it: I ain't Lizzie or Arwen! Sometimes, I'm not even Pavel! So I'm going to toss this out there and ask you, my friends, what does Courtesy in the Modern Middle Ages mean to you?

I was up working until 6am, and around 1:30am sweet Baby Dasha insisted it was time for a snuggle break:



( and a loaf... )

Rob Donoghue, co-creator of Spirit of the Century, gaming enthusiast and all around swell guy, has been posting about the recently released Warhammer Fantasy RPG, 3rd edition as he prepares to run a game and kicks the tires. He has some valuable insights. You can check them out here and here.

So long ago


I found an old picture of one of the tiger cubs that were born April 2008

I woke up at 3:30 this morning and could not fall back asleep. I admitted defeat at ten 'til four and got up. Looked outside to see a solid covering of snow. Pulled on layers and shoveled the walk. You can imagine my mood after the winning combination of weather and insomnia.



I forgot to get something at the store last night for dinner tomorrow. Stellar. So I'll have to go out in this tonight. And there's a home basketball game. stuology is saving my life on this one! Stellar!

Just shoot me now. My friends are awesome! Thank you, Stu!

Twenty-eight days until vacation.

Remember this teensy kitten? She's grown up a bit since then.



( More of little Winnie-poo and my baby Jack )

We're still working on Jack's poo problem. He's been getting Greek yogurt a few times a day and I think it's starting to work. His poos don't seem quite as runny as they were. He's back on his regular dry kitten food too.