jasonstonehouse.org

2008-08-21T13:16:00.000-04:00

This is what our apartment looks like now. Eek!

2008-08-03T20:21:00.001-04:00

We're playing euchre with friends, and Gena forgets to call a lay down loner. Behold the most powerful 2 point hand ever.

2008-07-31T16:11:00.001-04:00

We did it! We are now officially homeowners in the city of Cambridge. Ack!

Isn't she adorable?

2008-07-20T18:31:00.000-04:00

Especially when she's concentrating hard on getting estimates from movers.

Mobile blog test post

2008-07-20T18:29:00.000-04:00

This is a test post from my phone to test mobile blogging.

Goodbye, Lady Jane.

2008-04-13T07:58:00.002-04:00

A little over three years ago, this adorable ball of fuzz came into our life. Sure it started out as cat-sitting for our friend John, but it soon turned
into full-on adoption. John had asked us to cat-sit while he through-hiked the Appalachian Trail, but by the time the hiking ended, Janey was so firmly entrenched in our lives that we all agreed that she was happiest with us.

After three years of wake-up meows, curling up on laps, and freaking out at her own shadow, we noticed about a month ago that she wasn't acting quite right. I had suspected a hairball, but after 2 days of nothing, I took her in to the vet. X-rays confirmed that she had a large tumor on her intestine and probably would last too long. A few days later, the vet confirmed our worst fears, an aggressive lymphoma. The vet offered a few treatment options, and after taking it over with Gena we decided to try the prednisone therapy. Chemo, we decided, is a cruelty that we ought only inflict on ourselves.

That worked, or at least it looked like it did, for a few days. Her appetite started to return and her energy started to increase. But after 2 weeks, things weren't looking so good. She had stopped eating again, an no barely had the energy to make it up onto the couch. It was time to say goodbye.

So we did. Last Monday after work, Gena and I took Janey to the vet for a last time. we both were hoping for something miraculous to occur. Instead the vet told us what we already knew, the cancer was spreading rapidly and we had some tough choices to make. We both knew what we were looking at and we took a few minutes to say goodbye. I stayed with her until she wasn't with us any more, petting her and telling her what a good kitty she is.

Now, nearly a week later, the sharp pain is fading, but the ache of missing her is still there. I still look for her in her usual places, still think I see her moving out of the corner of my eye. She's still here in our lives, even if she's no longer napping on our pillows or stretched out on the floor.

Email and web problems resolved.

2008-03-10T06:31:00.003-04:00

There was a problem with the DNS servers that my hosting company provides which is why some of you were unable to get to the site or were having email bouncing in the last 2 weeks. I was able to find the root cause last night and updated the DNS entries with the domain registrar, so things should be completely resolved by later this morning (if they're not already resolved).

The non-technical explanation: Websites have a name (jasonstonehouse.org) and an address (10.0.0.1). DNS servers are the phone book that link the two. In this case, I had an out of date phone book that didn't have my current address.

technical difficulties

2007-09-07T18:11:00.000-04:00

UPDATED 9/9 @ 7:20AM:
This problem has now been resolved. Any mail that was coming through during the outage has bounced (sorry about that), but it looks like the accounts are working normally again. I'll continue to keep an eye on everything. Thanks for your patience.

If you've got an email account with me (on jasonstonehouse.org), you may want to alert folks to try reaching you on other alternate accounts. There was some server wonkiness over the weekend, my hosting company restored from backu, but now it looks like all the accounts that I had are bouncing as undeliverable.

I'm working on a fix, but no ETA yet (and with freshman move-in this weekend, it's not likely to be in the next 2 days).

ideas for anti-social networking

2007-08-12T16:49:00.000-04:00

Sadly, the domains getoutofmyfacebook.com and yourinvadingmyspace.com are taken by cybersquatters. Still, there's got to be a market for anti-social networking sites for introverts such as myself. I'm thinking something like this:

Instead of sending "winks", you could send "cold glares"
Instead of "friends" you can have "people you're avoiding"
"what I'm doing" would be replaced with "passive-aggressive behaviors"

You get the point.

All of these ideas grew out of a late-night post comedy and ice cream bit of brainstorming near Davis Square with some friends last night.

If only I were social enough to actually want to implement any of this. :)

Save the Geeks

2007-02-08T11:34:00.000-05:00

Pandemonium needs helps, and needs it soon. They've had a traumatic year, and while they're not doomed right now, there is looming doom on the horizon. Help save a landmark if you can.

hitched

2006-08-18T18:57:00.000-04:00

No better feeling in the world than having sucessfully convinced the most rockin' woman in the world to marry me. It went wonderfully, the honeymoon was great, and we're reluctantly getting back to reality.

Oops.

2006-07-22T21:11:00.000-04:00

I just realized that the reason I wasn't seeing any comments was that I had somehow turned on comment moderation. So yeah, I just approved every one of them.

My name is Jason Stonehouse, and I approve this message. Tacos rule.

is it really just 2 weeks away?

2006-07-20T11:00:00.000-04:00

Don't expect much posting from me between now and mid-August. Getting married less than 2 weeks has started to place a big restraint on just how much free time I have. I feel like I should try and be more productive. While I do have pants, there are many other things to take care of. I just don't know exactly where to start.

I am such a geek.

2006-07-07T07:39:00.000-04:00

But there can be no shame, no, none whatsoever.

66 days...

2006-05-31T09:28:00.000-04:00

But who's counting? :)

Balance my humours.

2006-04-22T12:59:00.000-04:00

the Wit
(66% dark, 26% spontaneous, 15% vulgar)

your humor style:
CLEAN | COMPLEX | DARK

You like things edgy, subtle, and smart. I guess that means you're probably an intellectual, but don't take that to mean pretentious. You realize 'dumb' can be witty--after all isn't that the Simpsons' philosophy?--but rudeness for its own sake, 'gross-out' humor and most other things found in a fraternity leave you totally flat.

I guess you just have a more cerebral approach than most. You have the perfect mindset for a joke writer or staff writer.

Your sense of humor takes the most thought to appreciate, but it's also the best, in my opinion.

PEOPLE LIKE YOU: Jon Stewart - Woody Allen - Ricky Gervais

The 3 Variable Funny Test written by jason_bateman on Ok Cupid.

I can always count on a mailing list to tick me off

2006-04-04T16:19:00.000-04:00

edit at 8:30pm
This has annoyed me enough that I've edited a version of this as a letter for DFA. It's been a long time since I've sent a letter to a PAC (I write to my members of congress a few times a year), but somehow this hit a raw nerve. Maybe it's because the national GOP is floundering and rather than raise the level of discourse, Democrats are wasting time on cheap shots. No wonder they can't win elections on a large scale. And now the Young democrats are doing it too; fund raising to send a golden hammer. Enough with the gags.

You know, right afer I'm lamenting my lack of topics to post about, I get an email that I could write volumes on.

I'm not shy about my politics. My friends know my liberal leanings, they know that I voted for Howard Dean in the primaries back in 2004, but increasingly I'm put off by the antics of the mainstream party that more often than not gets my votes.

Take this fundraising campaign that I heard about via one of the email lists I was on. The group Democracy for America, a grassroots group I had supported in the past has sunken to the stunt of fundraising to, I kid you not, send dozens of rubber chickens to Tom DeLay's office since he's decided not to run for reelection.

Now I'm not a fan of DeLay. I find his ethics abhorrent, his politics foul and his tactics vile. I'm glad he's resigned. But to resort to the prank (which is all it really is) of mass-mailing rubber chickens is as puerile as many of DeLay's own publicity stunts.

Use this resignation as an oppurtunity to fundraise to support a candidate in his district. Use it to advertise in another tightly contested district. But, for the love of civil discourse, don't waste a dime of that money on something as absurd as sending rubber chickens to the man. He's resigned, we've won that battle. Why can't we (the Left, that is) at least be civil about it?

The Left is notorious for it's persistent lamentations that "we deserve to be in power, the election was stolen, etc." Well, maybe if we had some sort of a plan, some position (other than "We're not Bush!") and if the party had the good sense to bring some decorum to the game we'd be in a better position.

All this does not mean I'm going to run out and register as a Republican. Far from it. But if Democrats want my continued support they better decide to to act like adults. It's the only way things can get better in our national politic.

That goes for both of you. Knock of the childish insults and bickering, look at where this country is going, and get to work fixing it rather than blaming (The Clinton Administration | The Bush Administration | The Aliens at Area 51) for the problems you yourselves are making.

Thank you.

Your own personal...

2006-04-04T15:31:00.000-04:00

DNA

Considerate Leader

Yup. I've been reduced to quizzes for my posts.

I'm a sucker for a nifty meme

2006-02-13T16:39:00.000-05:00

I'd say not much has been going on, but that would be dishonest. Frankly, between the occasionally overwhelming crush of tasks at work and the feeling that my free time is asymptotically approaching zero I don't know what to write about. So along comes a webmeme that I actually found nifty. Think of it as a bit of a mirror on how the world sees you. Or, in this case, how the world sees me. Follow the link, click the adjectives that you think describe me, and pass it along. (swiped from metagnat)

In other news, my own rule of never posting details about work is frustrating me. It makes sense, but after the last week it may have to break.

Finally, I haven't forgotten about you Gabe. You'd better start thinking of when you'll drag your ass up here. And wear Yankees attire. Lots of it. They love it up here in Boston.

A. Howard Matz is my new hero.

2005-12-06T23:50:00.000-05:00

This has to be the best dismissal of a motion that I've ever read. Every once in a while, a real gem comes out of the US District Court system, and this is one of them. Even if you have only a rudimentary grasp of French, it's worth the read.

So tell me, "Quel jeu doiton jouer vis-a-vis des autorités de Californie?"

The... pain...

2005-11-26T10:48:00.000-05:00

Dial
up
hurts
me.

I'm jonesing for bandwidth like a junkie locked out of a methadone clinic. At least I was able to set up some sort of wireless access with my parents' modem connection and a USB wi-fi card. It's slow, but I still feel some joy in the absence of wires. I have a feeling it's the same sense of civilization that Victorian era British explorers felt when having afternoon tea in a tent on the savannahs of the Serengeti. Yes, the table is made of an old termite mound, and yes (my good chap) the chair does smell of sweat and elephant dung, but dammit WE STILL MUST HAVE OUR EARL GREY!

Ooo! Ooo! Pick me! Pick me!

2005-11-16T21:25:00.000-05:00

Can I be named a far-left hate site? Please Mr O'Reilly? C'mon, I promise I'll compare your hate spewing rhetoric with Joe McCarthy and criticize the Bush Administration as often as I'd like! I know the freedom of speech means I'm only supposed to blindly agree with the Republican party and dissent is undemocratic.

Freak.

You know what would be great?

2005-11-04T12:29:00.000-05:00

If I had a theme song. Not a whole soundtrack, oh no, I'm not that selfish. Just my own theme song. I used to think that the sign that someone had "made it" was the respect of his peers, the esteem of his community, et cetera. Not any more. Now it looks like the true test of success is if you have a theme song. All the cool podcasts have one. Darth Vader has one. Hell, even this guy has a theme song all his own. It's a pretty sweet one too. That's what I want. A theme song.

And no, I have no idea where this came from or why I bothered posting it.

Go see this movie.

2005-09-27T22:40:00.000-04:00

So we just got back from the advance screening of Serenity. Yes, I was annoyed by some of the treatment by the staff, yes the long line and lack of communication was annoying, but the movie made up for it. No, actually, the first 30 seconds of the movie made up for it. Read on for a spoiler-free review of the movie.

<edit at 7:35am on 9/28>
It really bugs me that Universal had to be so ham-handed in their whole invitation scheme. It seems that as a result every positive review that I've seen that isn't in mainstream press is being seen as astroturfing. So to be clear, I really did enjoy the movie as much as it sounds like I did, it's just a shame that Universal has pulled the type of shennanigans that they did. But anyway...
</edit>

First, while it helps fill out the background a bit, you need not be a die-hard fan of the TV series Firefly to appreciate the movie. The movie does fit quite neatly in the canon, but it stands well alone too. There's plenty in the film to hold the die hard fans, and with the amount of amazing writing, well executed fight scenes, and romantic subplot I'd be hard pressed to find a Joss Whedon fan or a testosterone-head or a stereotypical female movie-goer who could not find something to love about this movie. I can honestly say that I laughed, I cried, and for the first time in a very long time I actually found myself on the edge of my seat in breathless anticipation.

If you've seen the trailer, congratulations, you've seen the bulk of the first 10 minutes of the movie chopped and rearranged in such a way as to make you have no idea what the film was about. That was a relief. I can't stand when a trailer tells you the whole film, and wastes all the good lines. Serenity's trailer, while rich in the good lines did not even begin to tap-out what's there.

Next up, the story itself. The pacing was well timed, with only one moment when I actually though to check my watch, and that was for about 2 minutes, 20 minutes in. Fight choreography was well done, and while I'm sure there are thousands of nit-pickers tearing into each kick like a reaver into a 5 year-old child, I'm not one. Yes, River (Summer Glau) does have some Buffy-like moments, and yes, I'm ok with that. The absence of Book from the trailer had me worried, but he's there too, and as enigmatic as ever. Kaylee (Jewel Staite) is as adorable and geeky as ever. The rest of the cast? No disappointments there either. If you want to watch only one episode of Firefly beforehand, watch Serenity (the episode) so you get an idea of how Malcolm ticks.

Let's see, what disappointed me... The sound effects. Or rather that they did add a few sound effects to the space sequences. Not a lot, no glaring engine noise, but enough to remind me that this isn't the TV show, with the eye (or ear, rather) for detail, like the absence of sound in space). Nope, this is the Hollywood movie with the sound effects being produced to cater to what the studio expects the audience wants to hear. We're not all idiots, you know. Also, I missed the horses. You see, the TV show had this thing going for horses, not so much in Serenity. It's less "sci-fi space western" as it is "post-apocalyptic us vs. The Man".

So briefly stated...
GO
SEE
THIS
MOVIE.

You'll regret it if you don't. Hell, I saw it for free and I'm planning on paying to go see it again. March of the Penguins didn't even get that.

As for the preview experience itself, well that was annoying. All the pre-registration was really for nothing, and then they had a section marked reserved in the theater. Naturally, I and several others who had pre-registered sat here. We were told by a representative of Universal that that section was for, "reviewers. No, not you blog-people. Real reviewers, real press." well, screw you. You invite us and then tell us we're not good enough? The studio wants to know what I think, now they do. Thanks for letting Joss make a great movie, it's a shame you had to be pricks about it.

Call me a companion if you must.

2005-09-26T12:29:00.000-04:00

So I've been invited to a free screening of Serenity tomorrow night. Free with catches, that is. Apparently, I have to inclued a copy of this:

Joss Whedon, the Oscar® - and Emmy - nominated writer/director responsible for the worldwide television phenomena of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE, ANGEL and FIREFLY, now applies his trademark compassion and wit to a small band of galactic outcasts 500 years in the future in his feature film directorial debut, Serenity. The film centers around Captain Malcolm Reynolds, a hardened veteran (on the losing side) of a galactic civil war, who now ekes out a living pulling off small crimes and transport-for-hire aboard his ship, Serenity. He leads a small, eclectic crew who are the closest thing he has left to family –squabbling, insubordinate and undyingly loyal.

on my page. I'm hoping that the above will meet there requirements. I'm also supposed to write a review of the moive as well. Which I was planning on doing, in an informal way, after I saw the movie anyway. So hey, if I get to see the movie for free, all the better. I still plan on paying to see it anyway, just to annoy Fox. They really shouldn't have cancelled the show. :)

And it's spell companion, not W-H-O-R-E. <wink>