I realize now that about that only things different between me being a teenager and me being an adult are that I live on my own now, I can buy beer, and I can comprehend time on the scale of decades.

My greatest fear is hearing my own voice, screaming.

Tagged by anandabrat

If you could only have ten CDs for the rest of your life (none of that “download MP3 collection onto disk crap”, which would they be?

• Dar Williams — End of the Summer
• Moby — Hotel
• Tori Amos — Choirgirl Hotel
• 54/40 — Heavy-Mellow (counts as two)
• The Flaming Lips — Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
• Mouth Music — Mo Dí
• They Might Be Giants — Flood
• Hooverphonic — Blue Wonder Power Milk
• Celtic Fiddle Festival

Who else am I dying to know what they think about this? robin_roe, raijna, elliotpp, vruba and costmary.

Taken from finchthewonder.

First Name?

Aria

Were you named after anyone?

Not this name, no. My birthname's middle name is. But I'm not telling what it is.

Do you wish on stars?

All the time. And then I go about setting my wishes in motion.

When did you last cry?

A few nights ago.

Do you like your handwriting?

My handwriting [_rocks_](http://nbtsc.org/~aredridel/2005/07/24-dar-williams-better-things-small)

What is your favorite lunch meat?

Walnut

What is your birth date?

The fourth of October, 1981.

What is your most embarrassing CD?

I gave up being embarrassed about my music collection this year.

If you were another person, would YOU be friends with you?

Yeah, but I'd annoy me sometimes.

Are you a daredevil?

No, but I imagine I'm one. I like to premeditate my wild and crazy actions.

Do looks matter?

Yes, but only as much as they reflect what's inside.

How do you release anger?

Convert to sadness, then cry.

Where is your second home?

Under a willow tree, somewhere on a grassy knoll, overlooking a castle and a graveyard.

Do you trust others easily?

I trust relatively slowly, but I respect everyone automatically.

What was your favorite toy as a child?

If not my Lego collection, then either paper to fold or the wooden truck my uncle made.

What class in school (High school or college) do you think was completely worthless?

I’ve been self-taught since fourth grade, but I took a few classes at the high school here and there.

One in particular was dismal: The only grade I’ve ever been proud of was when I realized I wasn’t learning anything in my Computer Drafting class. I’d done manual drafting at a much better school, so this was repeat-only-with-a-computer. I stood up, told “Coach” that he was a dismal teacher, I wasn’t learning anything, and that I’d be leaving. He told me I’d get an F, and I said that was perfectly acceptable.

My GPA is 2, technically, because of that, and it’s the only grade I’ve been proud of — I’ve collected a lot of A’s in my life, and they don’t mean much. The F does.

Do you have a journal?

You're reading it.

Do you use sarcasm a lot?

Never.

What are your nicknames?

Rickytickytavy, Ari, Aredridel.

Would you bungee jump?

Sure. 'specially over deep water.

Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?

Only if I have to. My current ones demand it.

Do you think that you are strong?

Emotionally? Getting there. Physically? Kind-of.

What is your favorite ice cream flavor?

The richest vanilla I can find.

Shoe Size?

A men's 11.

Red or pink?

Depends on context. I end up with pink objects in my posession unwittingly, though.

What is your least favorite thing about yourself?

My inability to focus on some things.

Who do you miss most?

raijna

Whom are you most glad to leave behind?

I'm never glad to leave someone behind.

What color pants and shoes are you wearing?

Brown, brown and I have a brown shirt on, too. Goes well with my brown hair and brown eyes.

What are you listening to right now?

Coldplay — Shiver

Last thing you ate?

A slice of brie and a slightly underripe peachcot

If you were a crayon, what color would you be?

Grey. Dark raincloud grey.

What is the weather like right now?

Hot and shitty.

Last person you talked to on the phone?

A customer.

The first thing you notice about the opposite gender? The first thing you notice about your own gender?

If "opposite" is boys, how they move their shoulders. If "opposite" is girls, how their pants fit.

What is your favorite English word?

Enigmatic.

Favorite Drink?

Anything low in sugar that is black.

Favorite Sport to watch? to play?

To watch, gymnastics, to play, Ultimate Frisbee

Hair Color?

Dark brown with a blonde streak.

Eye Color:

Dark brown bordering on black

Do you wear contacts?

Nope. 20/20 vision in my left eye, a bit worse in the right.

Favorite Science word?

Lambda

Favorite Food?

In winter, lentil soup. In late summer and early fall, red pepper quesadillas. In late fall, squash soup. In the spring, mango salsa. In the early summer, green salads.

Last Movie You Watched?

The Atomic Café

Favorite Day Of The Year?

The warmest day during the harvest moon.

Scary Movies Or Happy Endings?

Happy Endings

Hugs or Kisses?

Hugs from friends, kisses from lovers.

What Is Your Favorite Dessert?

A cup of tea and a piece of cheese.

What Books Are You Reading?

“Brave New World” (Aldous Huxley), “Shadow Puppets” (Orson Scott Card), and “The Time Machine” (H. G. Wells)

What's On Your Mouse Pad?

I feel no need to cushion my mouse.

What Did You Watch Last night on TV?

TV still exists?! That's _so_ 1980.

Favorite Smells?

Robyn. Tessa. Carrie. Jem. Pumpkin pie. Roses from a hundred yards. Field grass after rain. Wet sand. Sagebrush after rain. Vanilla. Clean hair. Burning Piñon. Ink. Laundry after hanging in the sun. Plumeria. Grapefruit. Pizza hot out of the oven. Burning cinnamon. Burning sweet-grass. Pu-ergh tea. Mint tea.

Favorite Sounds?

Soft wind, and rain. Any kind of rain.

Rolling Stones or Beatles?

Fleetwood Mac!

What's the furthest you've been from home?

Dorset County, England.

Do you have a special talent?

Explaining things.

Favorite Tastes?

Pu-ergh tea. Kisses. Coffee. Peppermint. Curry. Chocolate. Vanilla. Black pepper. Sweet peppers. Mangoes.

Oldest person you've hooked up with?

Twenty-one.

Youngest?

She was almost sixteen, at the time.

Do you have a crush right now?

Yes. Two.

Venus Envy’s a bit familiar today…

Aah, randomness.

My friend Xentac pointed out good use of flash for a poem. and really cool use of video.

Late-nite truth-or-truth is fantastic. Being able to get massive amounts of coding done while chatting and playing better still.

I am so getting just a few hours sleep, and it was so worth it.

One day, I will again get up on time.

Inkscape‘s 0.42 release is a thing of beauty. For moving the marker ahead a hundredth of a version, it’s seen a lot of progress. UI refinement, a highly usable gradient-fill tool, some very pretty new icons.

Its alignments dialog is still nowhere as nice as Corel Draw’s — that being arguably the thing Corel did perfectly. I’m also still waiting for a “duplicate object” feature that works like Corel’s, where you dupe an object, move it, dupe again and it appears the same distance from the last as you moved the first dupe from the original. Between that and layout guides, it takes me about five seconds to lay out a sheet of business cards. Corel Draw is the only Windows program I miss.

This version also removes the plugins/ directory, and puts more emphasis on scripting-language extensions. I think that’s probably a wise move, since there weren’t many (any?) plugins.

I’ll stop missing Corel Draw when there’s another tool I can use quickly and feel confident that things like business cards are aligned, and will print out millimeter-perfect on a business card template, not guessing that I got the margins right. That means usable layout guides, good alignment tools that behave predictably, a duplicate command that places things as precisely as the human at the console can with aid, and in general, a balance between precision when needed and getting out of the way so art can be made.

It rained today. This morning was a perfect Vancouver imitation: misty and cold, I walked to the café and sat on the porch, and watched the world go by for a whole hour. The world is quiet and beautiful when it’s raining like that. The traffic is muted, and tires on the new pavement just make the softest whoosh as they go by. It doesn’t quite pour, but the air and the trees are filled with what would be a heavy dew if it weren’t actively falling. I wore my green sweater, which even though it’s full of holes from too much time spent soggy and hanging on my body in the rain, is still like wearing a hug.

I wish it could always be this peaceful. The day went crazy the minute the sun came out. I spent five hours on the phone, trying to help three elderly customers, each to send an email. Between half the conversation lost to not hearing, and the rest to not listening, it was an excercise in frustration. But

it was pizza night, and there were eight of us and a fantastic variety of toppings. Ethan was in top form. It was excellent, and the storm came back while we were eating, and it poured rain, actually poured for the first time this year and I spent the entire drive home grinning from ear to ear. It looks to be summer monsoon pattern, too, so we may see a lot more wonderful, beautiful days like today. I hope so. I feel like my life gets crazy when it’s sunny, and I survive on days like today.

This is for a couple special friends today.

The War on Terror, As viewed from the Bourne shell.

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This is from the photo-gallery software I’ve been using. Unbeknownst to me, it lacks something in its linking.

Today, I was much cooler. Yay for cooling off and its improvement on my temperament.