This one is going around my friends' list and looks like fun.

I know very little about some of the people on my friends' list. Some people I know relatively well. I read your fic, or we have something else in common and we chat occasionally. Some of you I hardly know at all. Perhaps you lurk, for whatever reason. But you friended me and I thank you.

But here's a thought: why not take this opportunity to tell me a little something about yourself. Any old thing at all. Just so the next time I see your name I can say: "Ah, there's so and so...she likes spinach."

I'd love it if every single person who friended me would do this. Yes, even you people who I know really well. Then post this in your own journal.

If you could have 10 knowledge modules installed in your head right now, what would they be?

(I will assume that these are modules that could currently exist, rather than things like "cure for cancer". :-) )

1. Hebrew. All flavors -- biblical, classical, modern, dilects... written and spoken.

2. Music theory. All of it -- medieval, renaissance, modern.

3. That combination of psychology, sociology, political science, and whatnot that would allow me to determine what someone means and what he's trying to do, rather than what he says.

4. Cooking technique, particularly meat, particularly red.

5. Update to current CS technologies -- design patterns (catalogue), concurrency, N-tier/peer-to-peer/client-server/other architectures, performance without sacrificing design, and much much more. (Do I have to expend a separate slot on encyclopedic knowledge of Java?)

6. Names, faces, and key facts about everyone likely to ever be relevant to me, indexed for quick and reliable access.

7. Handyman 101, including carpentry, plumbing, and electricity.

8. Playing bowed strings (viola da gamba, cello, etc -- ok, violin is ok too :-) ).

9. Literary and historic classics, indexed for retrieval by quote, obscure character name, plot point, miscellaneous factoid, and so on.

10. Photography.

Wow, my previous entry was #1000. I had hoped for something more significant or inspired for that nice round number, but oh well. I wasn't paying enough attention.

( here there be nostalgia )

Looks like this one has died down among my friends, so here's a wrap-up dump.
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( I wonder what their definition of 'compatable' is... )

I finally got the thing to load, a couple days after registering with the site. I think the numbers aren't bi-directional; that is, I think I've seen different numbers for myself on other people's lists than I see for them on this list.

Of course, it's really just a parlor game; they don't ask the right questions to really judge compatability. Still, it's an amusing bit of trivia.

I swiped this meme from hobbitblue.

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Stolen from tangerinpenguin:

Thirteen things that have been going really well for me:

1. Interesting work. I get to do technical writing for programmers, rather than for end users. And I'm good at it.

2. I work for a company that treats its people really well. I'm not talking about money (though the pay is competitive); I'm talking about the things that really matter on a day-to-day basis, like respect and professionalism.

3. I have a great relationship with my rabbi. I am thrilled that he is willing to learn with me one on one. How many people get that opportunity without enrolling in yeshiva?

4. I'm having even more fun than I expected to in ralphmelton's D&D game.

5. ralphmelton, lorimelton, and mrpeck have gone from being casual acquaintances/coworkers to being really good friends (with me, I mean :-) ), initially through the mechanism of Sunday dinner.

6. I heard a bunch of great music at a recent convention and have gotten a couple of friends hooked on Clam Chowder (the group, not the soup).

7. I'm getting to know a lot of interesting people through LJ, some of whom are friends in real life.

8. I've been filling in occasionally for a congregation that doesn't have a cantor, on Friday nights. Not only am I doing a good job, but they really like me.

9. Soon, I will be able to move my office upstairs out of the cold basement. Shelves are being installed in the new room, possibly as I write this.

10. On the Mark sounds really good with the new lineup.

11. My SCA group is being reasonable in the face of unreasonable demands from above. It didn't look like it was going to play out this way.

12. Dani, my family, and the cats are all healthy and doing well.

13. I have lost enough weight that people have noticed, though not as much as I need to (nor as quickly as some of my friends are losing it), without doing anything more formal than paying attention to what I eat and trying to walk more.

According to this site (link found in friends' journals):

The name Monica is shared by ~233,700 people in the USA.
The last name Cellio is shared by ~280 people in the USA.
The First_Name + Last_Name Monica Cellio is not common in the US, with a shared population of around 0 - 10 individuals.
The First Name, Last Initial Monica C is shared by ~13,690 people in the USA.
The First Initial, Last Name M Cellio is shared by ~30 people in the USA.

Note: For populations of less than 1,000 the margin of error increases significantly.



Ok, I understand higher margins of error, but I'd say that "0-10" for "Monica Cellio" is incorrect. :-) That said, the world will probably be a much happier place if there's just one of us...

The Mandelbit generator is pretty nifty.