...To wrestling with something that infected my computer, that's where.  I had planned to write...instead I spent hours attempting to clean things up before finally giving up, backing up many GBs of files, and then re-installing the OS.  I now have an excellently-functioning computer with NOTHING installed on it.  Blech.

OK.  To keep this from just being a whiny post of whinyness, here is a little something for all y'all from iconomicon  called "Spock's Milkshake":

Animation with Post-It Notes. Animation with Post-It Notes that involves playing Post-It Note Circus Atari. AWESOMENESS.

DEADLIEST WARRIOR, I LOVE YOU.

I love you and your samurai who can shoot anatomically correct dummies in both eyeballs at 30 feet and then smash a cow femur with one blow and still have enough energy left over to say, "That's probably the most wood a Viking's ever seen" whilst the Viking stands there taking far too long to get the insult.

Taken from drunken_hedghog  :

When you see this, post a quote from Red Dwarf in your journal.


YOU ARE A TOTAL, TOTAL...a word has yet to be invented to describe whatever it is you are, BUT YOU ARE ONE, and a total, total one at that!

I don't know if you've heard of the phenomenon of Christopher Walken's Twitter account, but if you haven't, you really must check it out.

"There's a kid on a Pogo stick in front of my house. It's nearly midnight so let's assume he's been drinking. This should end well for him."

Unfortunately, online research shows that it's definitely a fake account.  However, it's so funny you will not care.  And it's disturbingly believable that Christopher Walken would say these sorts of things.

"Someone commended me for being "approachable." Okay. The truth is that I'm easily distracted and don't notice people touching me right away."

Even if you don't have a Twitter account, you can read "his" account here.  I highly recommend it as a good stress relief for the start of the week.

"I'm reminded of the "How dare you break wind before me!" joke. I won't share it. I'm just pointing out how bad it smells in this restaurant."

Oh dear sweet Jesus on a pogo stick...you have to see this.

I was recently introduced to the joys of Topless Robot, which is the kind of snarky geek/comic/videogame/anime blog I wish I could write, and which I highly recommend.  (It includes TWoP in its blogroll, and the humor does remind me of TWoP back in the days when it was funny.)  On Fridays they post something called, appropriately enough, Fan Fiction Friday.

Think of the worst, most disturbing fanfic you've ever been tricked into reading.  Then double the pain.  Then quadruple it.  That starts to give you an idea of the things that this blog has dredged up from the depths of the intarwebz.  Look, people...things that cause you to use the phrases "Care Bears" and "S&M" in the same sentence?  Just shouldn't exist.  Nor should erotic scenes between a Red Koopa and a Green Koopa.  Nor should femslash involving Lilo of Lilo & Stitch and the Powerpuff Girls.  After all that, the Night Court mpreg looked almost normal.

Lest you think I am making this shit up, you can find it all here.  I wish LiveJournal allowed longer tags, because I would tag this as both OMG That Is Horrible and Disgusting - Let's Show It To Someone Else, and I May Be Messed Up But At Least I Don't Write Dragon Ball Z / Anne Frank Crossover Fic.  (That last one is safe to click on, by the way.  The author keeps it PG, and gives it a happy ending, in which Goku defeats Super Saiyan Hitler and takes Anne to Australia and marries her.  And the mere fact that I can state that kind of thing is safe to read, shows you just how warping some of the other stories were...)

That's right, folks. This is not a joke ad. The Minnesota Timberwolves really are offering season tickets for $5.  And they'll probably have trouble selling them.  Which gives me an idea for a poll...


Poll #1368526
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 2

What should the Timberwolves' new slogan be?

OK. To make up for my giant post of whine about my old job, and to celebrate the fact that my cold is finally gone enough that I feel almost human, I present to you a scan that was recently posted at the Fail Blog, that illustrates How Not To Draw A Comic Book Cover.

( Cut because technically it's perfectly safe for work, but...MAN. )

If fan fiction about this exists, I do not want to know about it.

I am in the middle of an unexpected two weeks off from work. Last week I came down with an absolutely nasty sinus infection, and had been offered a position at another place, and wound up resigning by email. I hated to do it that way, but several people I know had been hit by this virus and were out of action for days. I also, in the email, talked fairly neutrally about reasons why I was leaving and gave solid examples of things that had happened to make me want to leave. The upshot was that they told me I did not need to come back to work out my two weeks' notice.

What's sad though, is that when I went back to pick up my things and answer some questions that they had...not one mention was made of my comments about being unhappy, and I didn't have any kind of exit interview. They were all full of smiles and hopes that I'll get better soon and enjoy my new position. Which means, of course, that I've just been labeled a malcontent who was trying to stir up trouble, and not one thing will change. I told them those things because I thought I ought to make them aware of just how upsetting some of their actions have been to the lower-level staff, in the hopes that they start to actually have dialogue with the staff so that the working environment would be less toxic.  I shouldn't have bothered.

What worries me is that I'm going to be made into a handy scapegoat for any problems. For instance, one of the questions they had for me was where some paperwork was. I told them it was in a certain binder. They told me that two people had searched that binder, and it was not there. I called for the binder; right there was the tab for the paperwork, and behind that tab was the damned paperwork! They said something about how they'd expected the paperwork to be arranged in a different fashion, and that's why they didn't notice the tab (ZOMGWTFBBQ?!?).  What's going to happen when I'm no longer there to "fix" things like that? Are they just going to throw up their hands and declare that because they can't immediately find what they need, obviously I messed it up before I left? They've already re-arranged my cube - if they couldn't see a clearly-labeled tab that was right in front of their faces, what have they already carelessly thrown out that they'll later blame on me?

Oh well. Nothing I can do about it now, and even if they do mutter accusations, I'm already into a new job and soon those people will be able to say, "Um, I've worked with her for 6 months and never seen any indication she would do something like that."

What's hilarious is that I suspect part of why they didn't want me back, is that they were afraid I would try to "poison" other employees with my attitude (newsflash: the other employees don't need help from me to be unhappy, they already are unhappy...). So far, multiple ex-co-workers have let me know that they're furious over me being told not to come back, that they think it was really tacky that management didn't even let them get me a goodbye cake and that they're not happy with the way the transition of duties is being handled. So, management has damaged relations with their in-house team, on their own, far more than I ever could. Which is pretty much par for the course, with them.  Sigh.

This post is utter spam, done solely so I can use my New Favorite Icon (courtesy of italian_jewels, in this post).