Jenn Dolari @dolari@driveinsaturday.org

ChatGPT is everything Forum 2000 pretended to be. #obscure

It took four years to develop because the cauliflower was pro LGBT and that had to be genetically engineered out of it.

Don't eat Chick-Fil-A. Popeye's has a better sammich anyways.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/09/chick-fil-a-cauliflower-sandwich.html

It's amazing what you can get done when you're trying not to panic over your future, she said looking at her new Video Game Shrine Games Database.

Oh THERE'S the paycheck. I spent all day in a near panic....

Sudden Instant Earworm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3wtCXzcBBI&list=OLAK5uy_kiq78aJugm3-deNoegpjcrE5julynniwI&index=9

A little concerned that my "paycheck" hasn't shown up in my bank account. Officially it has until Friday, but it's never not gone in on Wednesday....

Thoughts before bed:

Just took a quick Google Maps trip down 37th Street in Austin. That year and change there in 2001 were probably the best time in my life. Just me, Dean, Hyde Park, Good Culture, Good Food, Good Friends, Good times.

Then the Dot Com bust happened, I lost it all, and I don't think I've really ever been happy since.

Damn, I miss those days.

Messed with the shortwave. Got a nice clear Radio New Zealand. If I can get that 100 foot long wire antenna put up and not have anyone notice, I'll likely get more.

Actuially played some video games today. Rare that happens. Can still beat Kintaro with Kitana in MK2. Not flawless, but not bad for not playing anything at all for a few months.

I'm not a big fan of the State of the Union addresses from either party because they're usually a bunch of platitudes and feel good declarations that don't actually do anything in the end. But I gotta say, the heckling really pissed me off.

Back in the last few years of my timne at Nintendo, I would listen to Radio360.eu's list of government broadcasts from around the world every Sunday when I'd do my weekly managerial reports.

About two years ago, Radio360 went away, but at the same time Radio Taiwan International was putting their Hear in Taiwan show on Facebook, which I enjoyed immensely.

They've stopped livestreaming their show, and without RTI and Radio360, I started seeking out news from outside of the US again. Shortwave reception in Seattle is bad at best, so I checked to see if there were more online.

RTI had a nice podcast site, maybe the others did, too. And it turns out they do! So I'm back to listening to online again. Looking forward to Radio Habana Cuba's Jazz Show again. :)

State of the Union Address - TLDR Version: "All babies must eat."
State of the Union Republican Response - TLDR Version: "Commies will eat your babies if you don't elect us."

FINALLY got some much needed writing done tonight. I really think that's the one thing that seperates me from the professionals. I can't just sit and write. My mood is directly connected to my creativity, and if I'm in a lousy mood, I can just stare at a blank page for hours on end. And I've been in a lousy mood for a very long time....

Just encoded Tape #338, which contains the last thing I ever recorded, a video capture of KENS' analog sign off. I had to play it through a browser, through an S-Video cable plugged to my video card, to VHS. June 12, 2009.

Also on this tape? An episode of Absolutely Fabulous and a South Park episode that got overrun by one of mom's telenovelas. I wasn't expecing to see an anime girl in a Mexican soap opera....

So, my Threadgill's dinner was pretty good. Everythig needed salt, but I'm not sure of that's the recipe, or if that's me. I'm noticing I'm salting things a bit more than usual.

The chicken fried steak was good. The crust on it was still too soft and not crispy at all, but at least it adhered this time.

The mashed potatoes were excellent, but far too liquidy. A little less half-and-half next time, maybe. But honestly, if I'm going to make Mashed potatoes, I'm gonna make the sour cream potatoes I absolutely love.

The cornbread is almost perfect. And it likely would have been perfect if I'd not forgotten to put the butter in. I microwaved it to melt it and promptly forgot about it for almost two days. :) Just a tad bit more sugar, since I like a sweeter cornbread.

The Sweet Corn off the Cob, though. THAT was great and totally something I'd make again. The Threadgill's Vegetable Seasoning gives it a really nice spicy kick.

In all, not bad for making restaurant food at home. :)

I often tell people I'm from Austin. I'm not. I'm from San Antonio. While Austin has been in-and-out of my life since 1979, it wasn't until the mid 90s when I became one of those dreaded transplants the moved there, and again in the 2000s, and finally in the 2010s.

Austin fit me better than San Antonio ever did. But each time I moved back it became less and less of the Austin I remembered. When I moved there in the 2000s, I lived in Hyde Park, specifically 37th Street which had a really cool artsy funky vibe in a very artsy area of Austin. It was also insanely affordable.

I'd drive around Hyde Park, and I'd see hippies playing frisbee in tye dye shirts. Not something dont to play up to an image. Just hippies having fun in their front yard. There were squatters in an abandoned house nearby...but they never caused trouble. And were actually kinda nice. You'd come to a stop light, and if you're window was open, the guy in the lane next to you would often talk with you while you waited for the green.

Austin was cool. Austin IS cool. But it has certainly changed. Hyde Park is now insanely unaffordable. The hippies all moved to Wimberely. The old house was demolished and an office put up. The Triangle is no longer a park, but a block of condos. Everyone who moved to Austin for its culture has helped kill that culture.

Even me. I moved to Austin in 2000 because of the Tech Boom. The same Tech Boom that accelerated the loss of Austin's culture. There's still some culture there, if you know where to look. But each time I go back, it's fewer and farther between.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/02/13/the-astonishing-transformation-of-austin