Czeltic Girl

Poor li’l neglected blog

Thursday, June 24th, 2010 | Bloggity goodness | 3 Comments

It’s the blog’s 8th anniversary today (or, according to m@, Czeltic Day).

Unfortunately, I doubt I’ll have enough time to go find some fun links to post for you today. Sorry.

It’s a good day for Flickr sets

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010 | Bloggity goodness, Fun With Teh Intarweb | 1 Comment

The one in the post below is still my fave, but this one’s pretty good, too.

Author Douglas Coupland (who also happens to be one of my favorite writers) has taken the iconic Penguin book cover design and created a series of book covers to explain the year 2010 to folks in 1935.

Speaking to the Past is a little bit depressing. I’m not sure I’d actually want to show it to people in 1935. But it’s definitely interesting, and I did get a bit of a chuckle out of numbers 16 and 32.

Locals vs. Tourists

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010 | Bloggity goodness, Fun With Teh Intarweb | No Comments

This may be my new favorite set on Flickr. Eric Fischer has created a set of maps for several dozen major cities around the world and used geotagged images to determine where in those cities locals take photos (blue dots) and where tourists do (red dots).

Some cities have expected results (find Times Square/Rockefeller Center/Central Park on the NYC map/a>*), but some are more unexpected. Rome, for example, seems to have almost no photos from the locals.

Another fun thing about the set is that other Flickr users are using notes to identify landmarks in each map. It definitely helps explain some of the clusters.

(via The Morning News)

*As a side note, I was kind of amused at the fact that I’ve now spent enough time in Astoria, Queens that I could identify most of the locations of the locals’ hotspots there without having to consult a map. Thanks, Piler Arms residents, for making that happen.

Don’t forget your towel

Thursday, May 20th, 2010 | Bloggity goodness | 1 Comment

File under: Things that totally made my day

This site has mp3s of the original BBC Radio broadcasts of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

You have to download each episode separately, which is a bit of a pain, but the server is really fast so it’s not too horrible.

Make sure you check out the rest of his BBC Radio directory. There are some real gems in there.

Oh, and don’t forget Towel Day is coming up.

(via The Morning News)

Success

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010 | General | No Comments

Hey! Didn’t even blow things up this time. (You’re welcome, m@.)

Now I just have to actually add some new content one of these days. (Be patient.)

Fair warning

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010 | Bloggity goodness | No Comments

I need to update my version of WordPress. Last time I did this, I blew up the blog for a bit.

I’m gonna try not to do that this time, but in case there is a day or two of dead air over here, that’s the likely culprit, and I’ll get it fixed as soon as I can.

This earns a hearty “Ewwww”

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010 | Bloggity goodness | 2 Comments

But it’s still funny, so I will post it.

I am neither a fan of sushi nor a fan of Peeps (though I do enjoy putting the latter in the microwave to make them joust), so the idea of Peep sushi is just plain gross…but amusing.

I will eat the Rice Krispie treats, though.

Another round of awesome

Friday, March 26th, 2010 | Bloggity goodness | 1 Comment

Now this? This is a great use of Tumblr. The Internet can die happy now.

Eating off the People’s Princess

Thanks, Jane. You always find such…intriguing stuff.

Celebrate by watching Schoolhouse Rock

Thursday, March 4th, 2010 | Grammar! | 1 Comment

Popping out of seclusion to wish you a happy National Grammar Day.

In case you’d like to celebrate with a nice adult beverage, John McIntyre can help you make sure you mix up the perfect grammartini.

Not abandoned

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010 | General | 1 Comment

I haven’t forgotten about this place. Just kind of busy elsewhere. Be back soon.

Relief for Haiti

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010 | You Call This News? | No Comments

In case you’re looking to make a donation to relief efforts in Haiti, but don’t know where to do so, I’d like to suggest a donation to Doctors Without Borders. In addition to being a wonderful group, they already have a presence in Haiti (though, sadly, at the moment many of their people already in the country are unaccounted for) and their skilled services are badly needed right now.

Also, if you donate through Small Dog Electronics, they will match any donation up to $200.

Too nerdy cool to eat

Wednesday, January 6th, 2010 | Bloggity goodness, Design-y Bits | 2 Comments

Yeah, cupcakes are delicious, but I’d have such a hard time eating these games cupcakes. They’re so cool!

See how many of them you can guess. When you think you have your answer for each, mouseover the question mark button to see if you’re right. The number you get will really depend on how old you are and how familiar you are with a number of video games, but there’s something for everyone. They even included pre-video games in the mix.

Hmm. Looking at these has left me hungry, wanting to play some video games, and with the phrase “get the humanoid” stuck in my head.

(Via Wil Wheaton, who always finds the coolest stuff. This is one of the many, many reasons he is our geek leader.)

Who wants nog?

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009 | You Call This News? | No Comments

Ok, now it’s Christmas: the Gävle goat burned early this morning.

I can’t speak for fellow goat-torchin’ watchers Christyl & Matt, but this is one of the things I look forward to during the holidays. (Sorry, goats. And sorry, Gävle residents. I know that thing’s expensive.)

Update: The goatcam, which may now officially be the saddest webcam ever. Poor li’l goat.

Fingers crossed

Friday, December 18th, 2009 | Life in Czeltistan | 2 Comments

Car situation may not be quite so dire. Apparently some replacement parts can wait if you drive as little as I do.

Still waiting on a final tally, but it’s looking to be under $1000.

Excellent news, as I’m in no mood to go buy a car right now. Besides, I was feeling a little weepy at the thought of giving up my Camry. She & I have been through a lot together in the past nice (almost 10!) years.

Today’s craptastic decision:

Thursday, December 17th, 2009 | Life in Czeltistan | 5 Comments

Sink $2500 in repairs into a 17-year-old car or get a new car?

FML. Is this miserable year over yet?

Best Advent calendar ever

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009 | Bloggity goodness | 3 Comments

Yes, I know it’s a bit amusing that an agnostic likes Advent calendars, but I do. (It’s kind of like Mom’s Jewish friend who adores Christmas lights.) I don’t care one whit what they stand for. I just enjoy a new little surprise every day. (Hmm. Note to self: Groundhog Day countdown calendars!)

It makes me sad every year that there won’t be any more of Leslie Harpold’s wonderful calendars, but The Big Picture has stepped in and come up with what may be my new favorite: the Hubble Space Telescope Advent Calendar. Check back every day for a new image.

Not quite sure how I missed this one last year, as TBP is one of my daily stops, but I sure am glad I found it now.

And if I find any other good calendars, I’ll make sure to post those, too.

Pretty things for your viewing pleasure

Monday, November 23rd, 2009 | Bloggity goodness, Cocktail Hour | No Comments

Spent the whole day online, but it was work-related. I made a little visit to Coudal Partners’ site over lunch, though. Found you some pretty things to look at.

Space Images: The Best of Hubble’s Shots
I’m gonna cry when they send Hubble to burn up in the atmosphere. *sniffle* (I know — it’s 5-10 years off, but I’m sad about it already.)

The Dieline’s 50 Favorite Liquor Package Designs
Not quite as pretty as the Hubble stuff, but still nice, especially if — like me — you’re a packaging junkie. Ok, and a booze hound.

Related aside: Every time I see the 10Cane Rum logo, I immediately think “Iocane.” Now maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think I’d want my liquor associated with a poison, even if it is fictional.

Also: Ok, Dieline. We get it. You like Absolut’s packaging. But did you really need to put six of them in your top 50 list? I can think of many other more interesting bottles.

The new alchemy…kind of

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 | Fun With Teh Intarweb | 1 Comment

Finally, a decent trade-in option for your extra gold. This goes double if they’re not kidding about Fuwari being available as one of the trade-ins. (Seriously, though. Who has “spare” gold laying around? Is this an issue for people other than people who already have too much money?)

Tip o’ the hat to coworker Dan for the link. I needed the chuckle today.

There’s a lesson here.

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 | Screed! | 1 Comment

And that lesson is: it’s probably not wise to send editors a poorly-written memo letting them know about upcoming layoffs.

Disgruntled [Toronto] Star Editor Takes Constructive Revenge

That’s an awful lot of red on there. I think a certain publisher would have definitely been hit hard by the “three mistakes in an article and you get an F” policy my journalism classes had. Tsk tsk.

Also, it warms my heart to see the phrase “weasel words” again. I had an editor who was fond of that phrase. I quite like it.

(Via Ze Frank)

How well do you know your movies?

Monday, November 9th, 2009 | Bloggity goodness | No Comments

If you were given six drawings per movie, in sequence, none of which show stars, could you guess the film? Paul Rogers wants you to give it a shot.

I could get many of them, but got stumped on a few. And I love (love!) the one for The Third Man. I would pay for a print of that to hang in my house. (Hint hint, Mr. Rogers.)

(Via Coudal Partners