I got tagged by, surprise to me, tsunobrat. Here goes.

Total number of books owned

Two hundred or so — I’ve always been the sort to read things borrowed, rather than owning them. At age 13, though, the circulation count on one of eight stickers on my library card was 2,500.

The last book I bought

“Programming Ruby”, by Andy Hunt, Dave Thomas, et al. At the same time, “The Deltoid Pumpkin Seed”, which I haven’t had a chance to read yet, and promptly loaned to a friend.

The last book I read

And had time to finish, “The Left Hand of Darkness”, by Ursula Leguin, I think.

I keep starting “Quicksilver”, but I keep getting distracted just before it gets good.

Five books that mean a lot to me

1. “The Left Hand of Darkness“, by Ursula Leguin. It deals with gender identity issues quite gracefully, without being entirely about them;
2. “Ender’s Game”, by Orson Scott Card, because in addition to being really good, reminds me of someone who goes by the name Petra on occasion;
3. “Speaker for the Dead”, by Orson Scott Card, for being among the most juicy philosophical books in existence — enough so that a book reading club of mostly old ladies who hate science fiction can read it, enjoy it, and have the best discussion of the year about it;
4. “Winnie the Pooh”, by A. A. Milne, also for its philosophical qualities, not to mention the wonderful memories of reading it with anandabrat. Honorable mention to ”And Now We Are Six” for good childhood memories. Contrariwise, I did not enjoy “The Tao of Pooh” very much, since it ends up talking about philosophy more than simply illustrating it.
5. “Wonders, Inc.” for best childhood book. It’s where my sense of punnery developed from, aside from my father.

Infect five people

• lypanov,
• horseygurl88,
• raijna,
• kindrom,
• and since zinniazayda has already done this, ladyjausserande since her list is great.

Also waiting for pseudomammal and julieclipse but I dun tag them because vruba already did. doni_dyke01 is also sure to have a good list.

I just read a very insightful article on statistics and programmers. Go Zedas.

This on AIM, via the Jabber gateway:

myfriend@mygateway: Hello. This is an Aim control setting. We’re sorry to bring to you that you have deleted from one of our clients buddy lists. We would like to being fact that we are now advertising new movies a music. Our website features all the latest artists. Have a wondeful day. http://www.aol.com

Has anyone ever seen this before?

When forced to use windows, at least it’s possible to make it look okay.

The Dock’s coming along.

It’s finding and (hackedly) focusing entire apps now, not windows. It skips things it should skip.

I would rather be guilty of caring too much than caring too little.

I believe that wedded bliss negates the need to be undressed — Savage Garden

Thanks, apollotiger

So I’m working on one.

`

require 'wnck'

Gtk.init
w = Gtk::Window.new
b = Gtk::HBox.new
w.add b
Wnck::Screen.default.force_update
Wnck::Screen.default.windows.each do |win|
        but = Gtk::Button.new
        but.add Gtk::Image.new win.icon
        b.add but
end
w.show_all
Gtk.main

On the hike today, hanging on a tree, was a scarf that someone lost over the winter. Ruth snagged it and put it in my bag. Tonight, she said she’d never wear it, so I ended up with it. It’s beautiful! It’s coarse woven either silk or cotton, in red, pink and blue. I am smiling with delight.

XChat-Gnome is really starting to shape up.

$(rpm -e xchat) Yes, it’s that good.

I just saw The Interpreter with Ruth, Ethan and Eric. It was the best Hollywood movie I’ve seen in a very long time — as good as Ransom and The Negotiator.

International politics has been on my mind a bit lately, so that was fitting, and Sean Penn might actually be my favorite actor of the moment. I’m not sure on that, though. It also didn’t have a kooshy ending, which was pleasant — it would only have detracted from the story.

All this after a day that started with four hours sleep, four shots of espresso, two cups of coffee, eggs benedict for four at lunchtime, a hike to find a possibly nonexistant hotsprings, and plenty of good conversation.

I love how my newsreader will sometimes randomly show me year-old entries. Don’t fix the bug, guys.

Especially since our conversation last night, raijna is gonna love this.

You scored as Faerie. Faeries are earth spirits. They live among each element completely hidden. Faeries can be somewhat close to Pixies, but mostly they are loving, playful, and carry with them a child-like enthusiasm for life.

Angel	75%
Faerie	75%
Mermaid	67%
Dragon	58%
Werewolf	33%
Demon	11%

What Mythological Creature are you? (created with QuizFarm.com)

I really do identify as a faerie — It’s been something that’s been a concious and deeply felt part of my persona for at least seven or eight years.

Lately, depression has reared its ugly head at me just often enough to remind me where I was two years ago. I’m staying head-above-water for now, but I’m cautious.

Courtesy of chiclet‘s dad, How to fold a shirt.