wetware • \WET-wair\ • noun
: the human brain or a human being considered especially with respect to human logical and computational capabilities
Example Sentence:
With the right wetware at the helm, the company should be able to turn a sizeable profit.
Did you know?
When the computer terms "software" and "hardware" sprang to life in the mid-20th century, a surge of visions and inventions using the new technology immediately followed . . . along with a revival of the combining form "ware." An early coinage was "wetware," which began circuiting techie circles in the 1970s as a name for the software installed by Mother Nature (a.k.a. the brain). Other "ware" names for people and their noggins have made a blip in our language -- for example, "meatware" and "liveware" -- but none have become firmly established in the general lexicon like "wetware."
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Hey! I never heard this before... been around 'puters for 20 freakin years... I should really pay more attention.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
...
In contrast to how happy G-string and I are that we got to hear G's voice in the form of a shitty phone connection last night, we received this email moments ago about another young man in G's Brigade who's parents will not have the same luxury ever again. I have removed details specific to their troop and location just because it seems like I should.
"On the 29th of May I was notified by LTC *** (Infantry Division Rear-Detachment Commander) that our Brigade has suffered the loss of one our soldiers from ***. The nature of the loss is currently under investigation. The next of kin of our fallen soldier has been notified. I ask you for your prayers for this soldier and family."
I wonder how many families have felt the pain of being notified... when will this end?
"On the 29th of May I was notified by LTC *** (Infantry Division Rear-Detachment Commander) that our Brigade has suffered the loss of one our soldiers from ***. The nature of the loss is currently under investigation. The next of kin of our fallen soldier has been notified. I ask you for your prayers for this soldier and family."
I wonder how many families have felt the pain of being notified... when will this end?
Dear Jane,
In a show of friendly support and encouragement I would like to offer you this picture I took today of the butt-can at work. Might help strengthen your conviction to stop smoking if you use it as a desktop image.
May the force be with you!
Love,
Michael-Ann
tap tap tap...
After a terrible fall down the stairs leading from my hiding-hole in the house to the rest of the storage container we call home... I have FINALLY remembered who I am and where my blog is. Being that I am almost fully recovered from my accident, I thought I might just drop in and leave some hint of myself scrawled here on the cyber pages of what has turned into a rather freaking boring and uneventful chronicle of dysfunctionality.
Hi.
Okay, I admit it, I did not really fall down the stairs, I just made that up.
Only days after the Finch Family began their nest and my little world became filled with the hope and promise of new life I showed up at work last Monday (much to everyones disappointment, but with my hair brushed) and discovered the nest had been raided... one egg had been tossed out and lay smattered on the ground below. Dried up egg-guts baked on the cement slab and another egg precariously sticking out of the ransacked twigs of the nest waiting to meet the same fate of its fallen clutchmate were visual cues indicating something horrible had gone down. A couple House Sparrows in the vicinity seemed to be the likely culprits... those bastards!
No sign of the Finch Family. I wonder if they moved on to nest-building elsewhere together or upon finding their pillaged nest if they didn't just stop and look at each other in disgust - deciding they should divorce and find a more suitable member of the gene pool who could build a safer place to raise a family.
I miss the bubbling sound of the finch chatter.
The nest remains as a silent memorial... I am sure all the birds involved are not dwelling on the incident, they have moved on going about the business that birds must do by design. I am the only idiot left mourning the loss.
So with the exception of the vandalized nest, the little fenced in cement and gravel smoking area has returned to its prior state of nothingness with one slash of life in the form of one sickly tree growing out of the bottom of the neighboring warehouse.
As you might guess, this tree has been a never-ending source of entertainment for me. I am easily entertained by just sitting and watching things - any things, I am not picky.
My ability to find hours of entertainment in what seems nothing to most observers was refined at a young age in the house at Poughkeepsie New York. One of my step-mothers favorite forms of punishment was to lock me in my room for indefinite amounts of time. Usually this punishment was mandated by my refusal to call her mother (or any derivative of the word that might indicate her having an actual maternal relationship to me)... her words were: "If you insist on not acting like part of our family, you will not be treated like part of the family." And so I spent many quiet hours in my room staring at the fantastic wood grain patterns of my paneled walls. I saw demons, angels, fairies, friends, creatures... you name it. They were all trapped floating with their frozen expressions, eternally encased in wood all around me. Many stories were fabricated about them in my imagination...and even though some of those faces were quite scairy, I was never afraid of them - I knew they could not get out of the wood.
I totally went on a tangent.
The point is, the stupid, sickly tree sprouting out of the slab has eeked out an existance for about 4 years now and has fascinated the hell out of me. I study it every chance I get. The tree is so covered in tiny white fuzzy aphids that the tree appears to be stuck in a perpetual snowing state. Tiny white puffs constantly drift away from it. The tree is covered in aphids and most of the leaves are curled up in protest of having its life-blood unwillingly sucked from its body.
A master gardener told me that plants in this state are mistakenly only treated for aphids - when really, the presence of so many insects is more an indicator that there are other more serious health problems with the plant. i.e. the great number of aphids are the warning alarm on mother nature's rectal thermometer. Aphids are opportunists, if there is a weak plant - they are ON it.
Any way, the tree has become a fully-fledged mini-ecosystem. Lady bugs by the gazillions have come to this tree to gorge on aphids, lay their eggs, pupate, whatever... you can find many different species of lady bugs in any stage of their life at any given time on the leaves and bark of this tree. Birds also come to pick their fill of all the tasty insects living on this dysfunctional tree, - even a nice network of ants has developed - here to milk what ants seem to think a treat - aphid juice.
Such a remarkable little world attached to this one tree! I love the tree, it makes me happy.
My boss knows I am a tree hugger and delights in getting my goat. Every time we happen to be outside on a smoke break together she always manages to find a way to wander over to the tree and mumble about how she needs to have THAT tree cut down. I know she will eventually, if not, the electrical company will because its branches are getting too close to the power lines, or maybe the folks who own the warehouse attached to the slab that the tree is sticking out of will cut the tree down.
Just like the Finch eggs, one day here, one day not, but this time a whole little world lies dangling by a thread.
Hi.
Okay, I admit it, I did not really fall down the stairs, I just made that up.
Only days after the Finch Family began their nest and my little world became filled with the hope and promise of new life I showed up at work last Monday (much to everyones disappointment, but with my hair brushed) and discovered the nest had been raided... one egg had been tossed out and lay smattered on the ground below. Dried up egg-guts baked on the cement slab and another egg precariously sticking out of the ransacked twigs of the nest waiting to meet the same fate of its fallen clutchmate were visual cues indicating something horrible had gone down. A couple House Sparrows in the vicinity seemed to be the likely culprits... those bastards!
No sign of the Finch Family. I wonder if they moved on to nest-building elsewhere together or upon finding their pillaged nest if they didn't just stop and look at each other in disgust - deciding they should divorce and find a more suitable member of the gene pool who could build a safer place to raise a family.
I miss the bubbling sound of the finch chatter.
The nest remains as a silent memorial... I am sure all the birds involved are not dwelling on the incident, they have moved on going about the business that birds must do by design. I am the only idiot left mourning the loss.
So with the exception of the vandalized nest, the little fenced in cement and gravel smoking area has returned to its prior state of nothingness with one slash of life in the form of one sickly tree growing out of the bottom of the neighboring warehouse.
As you might guess, this tree has been a never-ending source of entertainment for me. I am easily entertained by just sitting and watching things - any things, I am not picky.
My ability to find hours of entertainment in what seems nothing to most observers was refined at a young age in the house at Poughkeepsie New York. One of my step-mothers favorite forms of punishment was to lock me in my room for indefinite amounts of time. Usually this punishment was mandated by my refusal to call her mother (or any derivative of the word that might indicate her having an actual maternal relationship to me)... her words were: "If you insist on not acting like part of our family, you will not be treated like part of the family." And so I spent many quiet hours in my room staring at the fantastic wood grain patterns of my paneled walls. I saw demons, angels, fairies, friends, creatures... you name it. They were all trapped floating with their frozen expressions, eternally encased in wood all around me. Many stories were fabricated about them in my imagination...and even though some of those faces were quite scairy, I was never afraid of them - I knew they could not get out of the wood.
I totally went on a tangent.
The point is, the stupid, sickly tree sprouting out of the slab has eeked out an existance for about 4 years now and has fascinated the hell out of me. I study it every chance I get. The tree is so covered in tiny white fuzzy aphids that the tree appears to be stuck in a perpetual snowing state. Tiny white puffs constantly drift away from it. The tree is covered in aphids and most of the leaves are curled up in protest of having its life-blood unwillingly sucked from its body.
A master gardener told me that plants in this state are mistakenly only treated for aphids - when really, the presence of so many insects is more an indicator that there are other more serious health problems with the plant. i.e. the great number of aphids are the warning alarm on mother nature's rectal thermometer. Aphids are opportunists, if there is a weak plant - they are ON it.
Any way, the tree has become a fully-fledged mini-ecosystem. Lady bugs by the gazillions have come to this tree to gorge on aphids, lay their eggs, pupate, whatever... you can find many different species of lady bugs in any stage of their life at any given time on the leaves and bark of this tree. Birds also come to pick their fill of all the tasty insects living on this dysfunctional tree, - even a nice network of ants has developed - here to milk what ants seem to think a treat - aphid juice.
Such a remarkable little world attached to this one tree! I love the tree, it makes me happy.
My boss knows I am a tree hugger and delights in getting my goat. Every time we happen to be outside on a smoke break together she always manages to find a way to wander over to the tree and mumble about how she needs to have THAT tree cut down. I know she will eventually, if not, the electrical company will because its branches are getting too close to the power lines, or maybe the folks who own the warehouse attached to the slab that the tree is sticking out of will cut the tree down.
Just like the Finch eggs, one day here, one day not, but this time a whole little world lies dangling by a thread.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Artist of the Day!
Okay, so I am a LITTLE slow at times... many times, often times, ALLRIGHT! I admit it, MOST of the time. This morning I discovered that yours truly was listed as Artist of the day over on... well, on the "Artist of the Day" Blog.
COOL HUH?!
Thank you Artist of the Day Blog! In reciprocal, I would like to declare YOU the offical ART BLOG OF THE DAY :) Just goes to show you that flattery will get you most certainly on my blog...Cheers!
COOL HUH?!
Thank you Artist of the Day Blog! In reciprocal, I would like to declare YOU the offical ART BLOG OF THE DAY :) Just goes to show you that flattery will get you most certainly on my blog...Cheers!
Friday, May 18, 2007
Another Friday
So this has been an uneventful week... with one exception - that exception based on the fact that I am easily entertained.
Last Friday a couple of House Finches finally decided to start building a nest under the roof of the outside covered smoking area at work. The feathered couple had been scoping the area out for some time arriving at different points of the day and chattering to each other all the while.
It was as if they were always quite seriously discussing the merits (or lack thereof) of building their new home in this location as opposed to others they may have scoped out.
But for what ever reasons they finally decided to pick our place. The grass and twigs started showing up last Friday and by Monday they had a rather righteous nest.
During my lunch break Monday I went to the local pet-supply store and purchased a finch feeder, some good seed, and a bird-bath. Knowing that other birds would be attracted to the food, I hung the feeder around the corner of the building to avoid having unwelcome visitors in close proximity to the nest.
It took our new avian neighbors no time at all to find the easy food source. In fact, by Wednesday, a second pair of House Finches showed up at the feeder. Between meals, the two couples hang out together on the electrical wires above exchanging ideas on such topics as nest building techniques, coping with fledglings, and the inevitable empty-nest syndrome. The two females generally spend more time socializing with each other compared to the two males.
On a completely different note, This week, just for the hell of it I tried an odd experiment. In the morning I took a shower (no THAT is not the experiment) and after towel-drying my self I didn't brush my hair out. I showed up at work with damp, tangled, uncombed hair and would not comb it out until around noon. No one noticed - or if they did, no one said anything. I'm not sure what the point of my experiment was, but the whole thing left me wondering.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Betchya dint think i wood :)
Okay... so when I am not so busy at work - or I just need a break from the flickering monotony on the computer screens that surround me at my desk... I go on treasure hunts...usually looking for some jewel in the form of a blog belonging to a fellow artist. Today I found a goody. I have NO idea who this fellow really is or where he lives, but I would guess it is somewhere urban.
I like MANY forms of art... as long as there is something visually appealing, some feeling that captivates, I am intrigued by what I would try to describe as graffiti-influenced art (as much as I like some graffiti - *grin*)
Perhaps it has something to do with the urban/graffiti/intense/whatever-you-call-it art seeming to embody the exact OPPOSITE of what a viewer of my art said to me having not ever seen me:
"How old are you?"
"Forty-three. Why do you ask?"
"Because your art looks like it was done by an old person."
The conversation went something like that.
Anyway, check out this person's stuff, he has a few blogs sporting his work... I bet he is young ;)
Here's some thingees I saw that I really dig:
Mind Control in his Illusions/SoulJacker blog.
Blue PRT #1 video short of odd-sillyness on his Release blog.
There was one of him and his wife "Forever" - or something like that, and a photo manipulation/montage using an image of his wife in a primarily blue-ish composition that I liked a lot too... but now I try to go back and find the dang images and they won't load for me. Oh well, you gotta go look around for yourself and see.
I like MANY forms of art... as long as there is something visually appealing, some feeling that captivates, I am intrigued by what I would try to describe as graffiti-influenced art (as much as I like some graffiti - *grin*)
Perhaps it has something to do with the urban/graffiti/intense/whatever-you-call-it art seeming to embody the exact OPPOSITE of what a viewer of my art said to me having not ever seen me:
"How old are you?"
"Forty-three. Why do you ask?"
"Because your art looks like it was done by an old person."
The conversation went something like that.
Anyway, check out this person's stuff, he has a few blogs sporting his work... I bet he is young ;)
Here's some thingees I saw that I really dig:
Mind Control in his Illusions/SoulJacker blog.
Blue PRT #1 video short of odd-sillyness on his Release blog.
There was one of him and his wife "Forever" - or something like that, and a photo manipulation/montage using an image of his wife in a primarily blue-ish composition that I liked a lot too... but now I try to go back and find the dang images and they won't load for me. Oh well, you gotta go look around for yourself and see.
2007 Houston Art Car Parade
Yup, this past Saturday, G-string and i went... and it was another fine day put on by the folks at the Orange Show.
Clicking on the pic below will take you to G's Flickr.com photo-documenting-extravaganza from throughout the day.
Clicking on the pic below will take you to G's Flickr.com photo-documenting-extravaganza from throughout the day.
Friday, May 11, 2007
arrrrgggghhhh day
-look at the clock-
voice in my head: crap, 2 hours and 10 minutes until 5 o'clock.
-wander to bathroom-
VIMH: heh, everyone thinks i'm taking a dump, but I'm REALLY just sitting here making faces at myself in the mirror across from the toilet.
-wash hands-
-trudge back to my desk-
-amble outside-
VIMH: i wonder if I have any wine left at the house after last night? crap.
-take a smoke break-
VIMH: need to quit one of these days.
-drag back to my desk-
VIMH: is today a payday or was that last week?
-look at the clock-
internal dialog: crap, 2 hours and 9 minutes until 5 o'clock.
voice in my head: crap, 2 hours and 10 minutes until 5 o'clock.
-wander to bathroom-
VIMH: heh, everyone thinks i'm taking a dump, but I'm REALLY just sitting here making faces at myself in the mirror across from the toilet.
-wash hands-
-trudge back to my desk-
-amble outside-
VIMH: i wonder if I have any wine left at the house after last night? crap.
-take a smoke break-
VIMH: need to quit one of these days.
-drag back to my desk-
VIMH: is today a payday or was that last week?
-look at the clock-
internal dialog: crap, 2 hours and 9 minutes until 5 o'clock.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Gads!
I still can't think of anything to say, accept...
I missed Michelle's birthday AND her invite call because I let my phone die for a week or so. MICHELLE! Happy Birthday doll! I miss you and I hope that you had a great day.
I missed Michelle's birthday AND her invite call because I let my phone die for a week or so. MICHELLE! Happy Birthday doll! I miss you and I hope that you had a great day.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Jamie's work on the Colbert Report
My youngest daughter has been helping do some things for NJ's ex senator Bill Bradley (he is promoting his book: The New American Story) One of the odd tasks she has been challenged with was designing Mr. Bradley's version of Colbert's Americone ice cream for a prop.
Until the show She had no way of knowing if the prop would be used or not. We all sat around last night watching and in the last couple of seconds Mr. Bradley whipped it out! We all hooted and hollered when we saw the ice cream container... quite exciting.
G recorded the segment and uploaded it to YouTube:
p.s. Hey Jamie! I hope you had that plastic sheet covering the couch :)
Until the show She had no way of knowing if the prop would be used or not. We all sat around last night watching and in the last couple of seconds Mr. Bradley whipped it out! We all hooted and hollered when we saw the ice cream container... quite exciting.
G recorded the segment and uploaded it to YouTube:
p.s. Hey Jamie! I hope you had that plastic sheet covering the couch :)
So what does one send...
In their very first care package to a 19 year old in Iraq? We haven't heard from him yet and being that he is in a new camp we hear that his platoon is still roughing it... so can only assume that the list of possibilities is endless.
One guy who is ex-army here at work suggested getting some playing cards with naked gals, I was thinking about sending a bunch of those cardboard air freshners people hang from their rear-view mirrors, as I bet the boys are getting pretty rank. I already have a bunch of junk food to send - I'm not keen on contributing to the bad health of people, but hell can't be any worse for their health than sitting in the desert with a bunch of people all pointing guns at each other while sand fleas nip at their balls.
So here's the list of stuff so far:
1) Box of Ho Ho's
2) Bag o' Nutter Butter Cookies
3) Box of Brownies
4) Bag of Zapp's Hotter than Jalapeno Potato chips
5) Big thing of chocolate sprinkles (he LOVES sprinkles!)
6) A little wind up Monkey that plays with himself
7) A shot glass that says "I am having a nice day - don't f*ck it up."
8) Two decks of naked-chick playing cards (couldn't decide between "Mamasitas" or "Jenna Jameson")
9) A little sewing kit with a spool of desert camo-colored thread
I know, right about now you are thinking: GEEZ what a classy broad! s'okay though, if I can live with myself so can the rest of the world - Meh.
I am including a note in the box to him that says:
WTF?!! I miss you! Don't expect you to want all this crap - keep what you want, give it away, barter with it, hell stick it all up a camel's arse for all I care - just as long as it makes you smile. Love, me
One guy who is ex-army here at work suggested getting some playing cards with naked gals, I was thinking about sending a bunch of those cardboard air freshners people hang from their rear-view mirrors, as I bet the boys are getting pretty rank. I already have a bunch of junk food to send - I'm not keen on contributing to the bad health of people, but hell can't be any worse for their health than sitting in the desert with a bunch of people all pointing guns at each other while sand fleas nip at their balls.
So here's the list of stuff so far:
1) Box of Ho Ho's
2) Bag o' Nutter Butter Cookies
3) Box of Brownies
4) Bag of Zapp's Hotter than Jalapeno Potato chips
5) Big thing of chocolate sprinkles (he LOVES sprinkles!)
6) A little wind up Monkey that plays with himself
7) A shot glass that says "I am having a nice day - don't f*ck it up."
8) Two decks of naked-chick playing cards (couldn't decide between "Mamasitas" or "Jenna Jameson")
9) A little sewing kit with a spool of desert camo-colored thread
I know, right about now you are thinking: GEEZ what a classy broad! s'okay though, if I can live with myself so can the rest of the world - Meh.
I am including a note in the box to him that says:
WTF?!! I miss you! Don't expect you to want all this crap - keep what you want, give it away, barter with it, hell stick it all up a camel's arse for all I care - just as long as it makes you smile. Love, me
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