a lesson

If you're hoping to be functional at all in the evening hours, try not to imbibe two mai tais and a zombie at Smuggler's Cove.

If you only knew how many tries it took me to get the HTML correct for the link... oh god...

The drinks there are not for the meek or the weak.

I'm drinking water for the next few hours. Gah.

Yawn - scratch

Not a terribly productive day.

I managed to rendezvous with UPS, which is a plus. My dinner plans fell through due to an oversight on my part. Thankfully it turned out for the best when the miserable weather hit.

There's no shortage of movies I could go see, if I could rouse myself. I'm not so interested in Avatar or Sherlock Holmes to want to make my way to a theater, though.

Too lazy. And that's okay.

A pleasant way to fill the day

One of my favorite winter pastimes:

- a grey winter day
- a pub
- a couple of pints
- a hot bowl of stew or chili
- conversation with resident barflies

List fully-checked. Good times.

Merry Xmas

Mine was pretty fantastic. A wonderful exchange of gifts and some really nice time with the family.

I count myself very fortunate when I can spend 12 hours with my family and I pretty much enjoy the entire time.

Corny or not, that's probably the best gift of all.

And yes, that's very corny.

Xmas Miracle

I was home for a UPS delivery! 'Tis a miracle! A miracle!!!

Still fighting this damn cold-like-thing. Ah well. Could be worse.

Unwelcome Xmas Gift

Headache? Check.
Intermittent nausea? Check.
Scratchy throat? Check.
Episodes of extreme exhaustion? Check.

What. The. Hell?

I think this hit me last year as well.

Bleah.

Brilliant invention

Awesome keyboard.

Fortunes

I'm not one to buy into the superstition of fortunes (those found in fortune cookies), but I gotta say that sometimes they're strangely bang-on.

Today's (from the monster bag of fortune cookies my neighbor gave me):

- A small lucky package is on its way to you soon - I've received fudge from a friend and a videotape of some interesting "Dr. Who" material from another. Hm... this one is good.

- Work on improving your exercise routine - yeah, I've been saying that already. Barely valid.

A series of totally off ones:

- Soon someone will make you very proud - I can't see how this can be valid.

- Focus on the color purple this week to bring you luck - that's going to be odd. I dislike the color purple.

- Your hidden creative talents will soon be revealed - my what? Um...

- You will be involved in many humanitarian projects - another crack-headed one.

The following are, collectively, a bit creepy and sound interrelated:

- There are big changes ahead for you - sounds sinister

- A new relationship is about to blossom. You will be blessed. - somewhat less-sinister

- Soon a visitor shall delight you - unexpected visitors never "delight" me. I hate surprises.

- An unexpected event will soon make your life more exciting - this sounds... um... sinister in relation to the others

- You will travel to many exotic places - I'm planning on doing that in 2010... hm...

ticking down

The year is nearly over. What do we have left? Nine days?

2009. What a crazy year. Can't say I'll miss it.

It was great to see Obama sworn in and it's been great that I've weathered the economic meltdown (so far), but otherwise this has not been the best year I've ever experienced.

Seems to me that everyone and everything just gets crazier and crazier.

2010 isn't looking like it's going to be a whole lot saner. Not much I can do about that, I guess.

My goals for 2010 will involve whatever steps I need to take to make my little slice of the world less-crazy:

- exercise more (hah!)
- find some kind of way to incorporate some self-discipline into my life to change some bad habits (spending, eating, etc.)
- waste less energy worrying about what I don't have and focus more on what I do have

I guess that's all common sense. We'll see how this goes.

Holy mother of uber-violence, Batman

(BoingBoing)

Lovely timing

My office party is this weekend and I'm fighting a cold.

Wunderbar.

Tips for the Holidaze

For people buying stuff:

1) When in line to make your purchase, have your sh*t together before you get up to the cashier. Saves everyone time and headaches.

2) Don't use the cashier as your information desk. This is especially true if the line is twelve-deep behind you and said store has a specific area for helping you find stuff.

3) Read your coupons before trying to use them. Saves you having to argue later when the cashier can't apply it to your order.

4) Store staff are not your babysitters. If you can't keep your kids under control, you shouldn't expect some minimum-wage making sales clerk to do it for you as you're trying to make your purchase.

5) Read the signs around you so you know where the line starts, if there are any restrictions or special conditions going on, etc.

For people selling stuff:

1) If you've got a line starting to form, you might want to get extra cashiers sooner rather than later. Lines encourage people to get their stuff faster... making longer lines...

2) If some idiot gets to the cashier and still isn't ready to make a purchase and there's a line behind said idiot, send said challenged soul to someone who can help. If your store isn't situated to handle that basic workflow, they probably need to look at their processes.

3) Clearly label where the line starts and stuff like that. Keep it simple and use big print.

4) For God's sake, if you have people wandering the floor doing whatever and there's a huge line of people waiting to buy stuff, get some more cashiers working! Is it that hard to figure out? Seriously? You want their money! There's a recession on!

*exhales*

Aah. I feel better now.

And I'm very grateful I don't work retail anymore.

Sounds like a plan

If all goes well, I'm going to finish my xmas shopping tonight.

Then I'm probably going to pass out.

It's been that kind of week.

Time Blender

December's just one of those months that's too full of stuff.

I guess that's why it felt like Friday yesterday and still feels like it should be Friday yesterday... or at least today.

Of course, Friday is tomorrow.

It's throwing me off my sleep schedule and leaving me more disoriented than usual (and that's saying something).

Boggled Mind

Saw a list of quotes on Salon.com today that led with a statement that kind of blew my mind:

"Keep your government hands off my Medicare." Speaker at health care reform town hall meeting in Simpsonville, S.C., commenting on the government-created Medicare program, quoted by The Washington Post on July 28.

Yep. Keep government hands off of Medicare.

The sheer, unbridled idiocy of that statement makes me seriously fear for the future of my country. When did people get so STUPID here? Has it always been like this? Did I just never notice?

I need to start shopping for a cave or bunker or something and get the hell outta dodge.

Humbugging

I'm officially overwhelmed by xmas this year.

I just don't seem to have enough time or energy to keep up with everything and I know I don't have enough money.

And I've already missed my postal deadline to get gifts in the mail. Sigh.

Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow, nor brains

The United States Postal Service. What a grand organization. Gotta love 'em.

Unless they don't deliver the one piece of mail you were expecting (and tracking) that's got monetary value.

Then you just gotta love the fact that your neighbors are honest and left said mis-delivered mail in the unsecured garage for you to find by chance the next morning.

I hope my more-competent mail carrier is on the shift today. I'd like to actually get my mail instead of have it shunted to one of my neighbors who only checks the mail box weekly.

And I hope the bumpkin mail carrier transfers to Nome, Alaska. Grrr....

Quote of the Day

From one of my friends re: our weekend.

absinthe .... was pure pain

Yep. That pretty much covers it.

Inching along

I've pretty much hit the point of no return for online shopping. At least it's that point if I want to pay sane shipping rates to ensure they get to my office.

I don't really think there's much else I need to get. Stocking stuffers and gifts for a few friends.

It's amazing how Xmas spins out of control with the gifting.

It's amazing how goddamn expensive this month has been. This weekend alone was insane beyond words. I'm going to have to be more self-disciplined after Xmas.

A week and a half before Xmas break. I guess the time will blaze by.

Smuggler's Cove

On Friday night, I visited Smuggler's Cove in San Francisco.

In the interests of honesty, it wasn't my first stop. Prior locales were varied and the three of us had imbibed stuff that really should not be imbibed in a single evening. Suffice it to say that absinthe is not my favorite drink ever.

Regardless, we wound up at Smuggler's Cove. After a few minutes of waiting in line in the drizzle we had the good fortune of meeting the owner. I related to him my fondness for Forbidden Island in Alameda (he founded it, apparently) and shared my father's fondness for the old-time tiki bars (Trader Vic's, Skipper Kent's, etc.). Interestingly enough, Martin Cate (the owner) knew all about these places and was a good sport to listen to my tipsy repeating of my father's tales.

Right there I knew I'd love this place. Mr. Cate was friendly, personable, and seemed genuinely interested in his patrons having a good time.

The interior was what I expected. Tiki decor with rum drinks galore and lots of wood paneling. It was multi-level with hard-working bartenders who really seemed to know their stuff. Along the walls coming immediately in, Smuggler's Cove had menu/adverts of some of the older tiki bars. I saw one of the long-gone Skipper Kent's of my father's tales. I should've taken a photo. Ah well.

We descended down to the lowermost level and partook of mai tais. They were classic style mai tais in the manner that I am most accustomed to drinking. In short, they were excellent.

I paid a dear price for all this drinking (and for finishing my evening with rum drinks) the next morning but I regret nothing.

I will return to Smuggler's Cove and I can tell it's going to be a very, very popular spot.

Time waits for every Time Lord

Must... resist...

It begins

This Friday signals the crazier of my holiday weekends. One birthday celebration and two drinks outings.

If I survive this weekend without contracting some horrific illness, then I'll be impressed.

An Odd Sense of Time Compression

It simultaneously feels like it should be earlier in the week and later in the week. Essentially, I'm surprised to find it's Thursday.

Dunno why. I think the weather is throwing me. My class is over 'till January, so that's probably a contributing factor.

And all the festive stuff. That adds to it.

My "down time" is pretty much on the weekdays now. My weekends are solid-booked until New Year's. Oh well, at least it won't be boring.

The first major series of packages hit my office yesterday. I'm now officially 90% done with my family shopping. I should probably get some cards in the mail.

Sadly, I got an Airsoft pistol for myself in my latest shipment. So I wasted tons of time last night shooting (and losing) Airsoft pellets in my apartment. 'Cause clearly my emotional development never made it past age 12.

At least I got some jogging in yesterday. I braved the relative cold and got a few miles in. Felt good. Now I have to figure out what kind of cardio exercise I can manage when the rain hits today.

Yeeaaaaahhh...

I just got a shipment that included some Black Black gum.

It tastes like a cough drop. It's blackish. It's apparently caffeinated.

I think I'm starting to hallucinate.

Day Three of the "cold snap"

It's rare when I encounter metaphors that become literal.

"It's so cold it takes my breath away" is one of those. And yet, this morning it was quite, quite cold by Bay Area standards and it did indeed take my breath away for a moment.

There's a strange kind of silence that accompanies a cold, cloudless morning that gives it a certain eerie quality. I personally find this a bit disorienting. I wasn't sure it was Wednesday until I came into the office and looked at a calendar.

Crazy times.

Balmy in Bizarro World

And it's even colder this morning. Whee!

I should've called in "sick" and stayed in my nice, cozy bed. Bah.

Freezing

So apparently it's literally freezing in some parts of the Bay Area. Specifically, Orinda has seen snow this morning.

For those not-in-the-know, Orinda is east of the Oakland hills. It's a rather posh community of windy narrow roads bisected by Highway 24.

It's not really all that well-suited for snow.

The weather report made it sound like the snow wasn't sticking, so I expect it's just a light dusting. All the same that's pretty cold for this neck o' th' woods.

I love this weather.

whew

What a weekend!

Not much in the way of down time. A long Friday evening of preparing for Sunday's test. Saturday was a party with some of my club-mates in a home that dwelt upon a location that pretty much defines what a "windy road" is.

And I ate. Oh, did I eat. I just weighed myself this morning and regretted doing that.

Sunday was the test. Nice and early. Except for the "nice" part. Early on a Sunday is never nice.

My personal test didn't take place 'till nearly lunch time. I didn't mind the wait. It's fun to watch some of the other tests. My actual test was almost anticlimactic. It was strangely-easier than my previous test back in August. I'd like to say that was because I was so prepared, but the truth is that it was likely due to external matters that may have shortened my test.

I'm not complaining. I attended a reception later for the program and was told I passed. I'm pretty happy.

My sinuses have been troubling me with a minor headache since Sunday and my stomach is a tad upset, likely due to the various things I ate that I'm not used to eating. Hopefully this doesn't mean I've contracted the cold/flu that various co-workers and classmates have. Time will tell.

It's all good. I can chill now.

Good clean Roman fun

Finished "First Lord's Fury" by Jim Butcher.

That was a damn good book. I love Butcher's stuff. The man can write and he cranks that stuff out!

"First Lord's Fury" was a satisfying end to his "Codex Alera" series. I look forward to his next Dresden Files book and any other ideas of his coming down the pipeline.

Freezing Friday

Okay, it's not technically freezing. It's just the normal, clammy, cold that accompanies the Bay Area fog.

Still chilly.

At least it's Friday.

I'm about 3/4ths done with "First Lord's Fury". Damn this is a good book.

Sliding along

A morning of meetings and an office filled with people who are sick with some kind of vile cold.

I've discovered new and exciting little tidbits of work to add to my pile that somehow slipped under my radar until now.

I've had it explained to me in no uncertain terms that I'm trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Wow... that sounds so wrongly-filled with innuendo.

I've spent a half hour dealing with one of the most irritatingly-slow websites ever devised.

I've only managed to read a few pages at lunch.

*sigh*

Counting Down

Thursdays are interesting days. They're not quite Fridays, but they're so close that they can often feel Friday-ish.

Today doesn't. Not for me, in any event.

Meetings upon meetings vie with anticipation of tonight's "Fringe" countered by more errands... it all fills my head. Gah. Too much to do. Not enough time to do it.

One more class of review before my test. I'm feeling less-anxious about the actual test. I suppose that's a good thing.

I'm about halfway through Jim Butcher's latest novel: "First Lord's Fury"

It's up to Butcher's usual standards of excellence. At this point, Butcher's edged George R.R. Martin out of the running for my favorite author. So it's down to Patrick Rothfuss and Jim Butcher. Butcher's slammed out more books but Rothfuss did a hell of a good freshman novel. I just wish he'd finish up his second novel.

War Protesting

I really don't understand the mentality behind most war protests in the Bay Area.

So you're a war protester (or whatever) and you live in the Bay Area. One could argue that you're probably surrounded by a number of people who are politically sympathetic. It's the Bay Area. It's noted for being a bit on the liberal side.

So what do you do? You gather a bunch of your louder friends, you go into downtown San Francisco, and you tie up traffic as you shout out your issues in hope of getting a little TV attention.

So what comes out of this?

- Your otherwise sympathetic friends get caught in a traffic backup and start to think you're a jackass. Your otherwise sympathetic friends may entertain beating you. Kind of depends on the person.
- You get a little time on TV, from a distance, but you're looked at as either amusing looneys or crazed rabble-rousing looneys.
- You have absolutely no impact on the decision makers regarding war who live and work on the other end of the goddamn country!!!

Net result, you don't do much to help your cause. You want to fly in the face of your political opponents, fly out to Ohio or Texas or somewhere and block their streets. DC is probably your best bet if you're looking for attention from higher in the food chain.

'Cause it's pretty likely that if they're paying any attention to your protest, they're probably watching it on the television and thinking: "Yep. Crazy hippies in San Francisco. Glad those commies are all out there." or some similar crap.

Fogtastic

I'd forgotten that cold, clammy feeling of San Francisco fog. It's been so long since we've had a chilly, foggy day in the Bay Area, I've grown unused to it.

Today's reminded me. Time to keep a hat in the bag.

intertoobing

Mood is improving from whiny. Said meeting won't be super-long and I'm prepared for my quick jaunt off to class.

Got some Xmas shopping done this morning. I love the Internet.

Mom gave me a bag of tangerines. Mmm... love 'em. Healthy snacks to combat possible disease.

And my allegies are more-or-less under control.

Going to be a loooooong one

I've got a meeting today that's starting just about the time I'd normally leave the office. That would suck under normal circumstances. This is, of course, a day I've got class after work. And this is a week that I feel I really need to hit the classes for this test.

Yes, I know this is all martial arts and doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things, but I've paid tuition for this and I'd like to pass the damn test.

On top of this, my sinuses are acting up and giving me that draining sore throat feeling. I can't tell if this is due to allergies or if I'm fighting a cold. I don't feel achy, so I suspect it's allergies. All the same, it sucks.

So I'm starting my Wednesday irritated. I expect my mood won't get much better as the day goes on.

Ugh. And I need to get on the ball with my xmas shopping. Bah.

Tiger Balming

Okay, what the HELL is up with all the headline news about Tiger Woods and his car accident?

Seriously? How is this worthy of any kind of headlines?

I don't care if it was drunk driving, domestic dispute, or martians. He's a goddamn golfer. How is his accident more newsworthy than, say any of the following:

- the U.S. Supreme Court backing the Obama Administration in suppressing release of torture photos from Gitmo
- increased troops being sent to Afghanistan
- ridiculous bonuses being paid out by industries that got bailout money
- credit card companies hitting you with fees for not using your card

And that's a small, small, small amount of news that's actually more relevant to society than some golfer's fender-bender.

What. The. HELL???

This is what gets me bent out of shape when I watch or read the news. People rant on and on about the "liberal media" (it's not) or the "corporate media" (it is). It's the sensationalistic bullshit in place of actual news that's what drives me nuts.

Bah.

Decembering

Hey! Look at that! It's December!

What. The. Hell?

Yeah... blah-blah... time's going by quickly... blah-blah.

Well, it is!

At least this morning had a clear view of a gorgeous full moon. T'was a chilly ride in, but that's okay. I was all bundled up toasty and nice. Today's game of "Count the Hookers" resulted in an overall total of zero. I guess it really is chilly.

I got the latest of Jim Butcher's Codex Alera series yesterday. I haven't gotten as far as I'd like yet. I hope to correct that little oversight at lunch today.

And I'm feeling better about my impending test. Yay?

Salt Mining

Back in the office after a week of unbridled slackerdom.

It was easier to wake up than I thought this morning. I expect that means I'll have a devil of a time waking up tomorrow.

Meh.

Blasting Wind

Damn but it was windy today.

I took a walk out to get a bite to eat and saw all sorts of fun effects of the blustery weather. Kids blown off their bikes. Strollers blown askew. Crap blown into the street.

Good, clean fun.

Okay, maybe not.

I considered going running, but the wind is performing merry havoc on my contacts and my allergies. It was enough of a pain to take a walk.

Meh. Gave me time to do some online shopping for Xmas and run a diagnostic when my PC started acting buggy again. Ugh. May need to buy a new machine sooner rather than later.

Sucks.

Digest-a-rific

Ah, Thanksgiving Day. It really ought to be renamed "Gluttony Day".

Oh, I know. We're supposed to be grateful for all the good stuff in our lives, blah-blah-blah.

I'm grateful for all the good stuff every day. Seriously.

Oh, it was great to bond with family and all that. It was also great to devour unholy amounts of pumpkin pie after a delightful meal of turkey and all the other traditional stuff.

I'm still digesting it all. I wasn't even hungry for lunch today.

I actually finished a little Xmas shopping this afternoon. Yay!

Nom Nom Gobble

Soon, sweet, sweet turkey... you and your mashed potato and pumpkin pie allies will be mine. Oh yessss....

Soon.

You can run, but you can't hide.

Ninja Assassin

Yeah, I went and saw it.

Ten bucks and ninety-something minutes later, I regret nothing.

Oh, the critics are right to say it's a bad movie. If you're looking for a movie with a solid plot, great acting, wonderful dialog, and all that... save your money.

If you're unable to handle ridiculous amounts of CGI blood, dismemberment, and decapitations, save your money.

If an ultra-violent, ridiculous, video-game like movie is what you're looking for, cough up some money and watch this thing. It's great!

Needless to say, I loved it.

Ouch

Minor service for the car today. That was a pretty penny.

Now I must consider if I see Ninja Assassin tonight or wait until Friday.

Hmmm... decisions, decisions.

Well that's a bugger

I was supposed to head out to a birthday celebration for a friend tonight.

Canceled. Flu.

Not me. Him. He's got the flu.

That's pretty epic on the suckage scale when you get the flu on the week of Thanksgiving and your birthday.

Swimming in Who

Just saw "The Waters of Mars", the latest "Dr. Who" special.

I have to say, I quite enjoyed it. It was a bit self-indulgent and melodramatic, but compared with past Russel T. Davies offerings, it was pretty solid.

The ending was especially good. I'm going to miss David Tennant.

Can't wait for the next one...

Aaah...

I've opted to take the entire Thanksgiving week off.

Feels good.

The family dinner last night was a big one, so I slept in late this morning to digest the ungodly amounts of food I devoured. It's otherwise been somewhat productive. I scheduled my next car service. I hit Costco and the grocery store.

Nice and low-key.

I can now slack until drinks later.

And slack I shall. Oh yes...

It is Sunday

There is nothing to report.

That is all.

Car-ma

Ye gods the traffic.

Just had dinner with some friends in Foster City. The drive in was mildly-bonkers but the drive back...

Good lord.

Crazy amounts of people on 101, so I took the San Mateo bridge. And, of course, there was an accident on the bridge. I got past that and the CHP was doing a lane closure on 880. GAAAAH!!!

It was like a driver's ed horror story.

That said, dinner was totally worth it.

That was quite fine

After a slightly-disheartening class I hit the city with a buddy to do a little bar-hopping last night.

It was a pleasantly-random evening. Met some Aussies in an Irish pub and tried desperately not to get hit by some of the less-accurate dart throwing by some of them. Ate Shepherd's pie and drank many a Guinness. It's been too long since Guinness and my palate have spent quality time bonding.

Hit a saloon after that. Fine drinks, but it was crowded. Standing room only. I had some kind of fancy drink that had five or more ingredients in it. It was tasty.

We wandered on to a third bar that caters to people with more money than either of us combined and imbibed a bit of whiskey on the rocks and tried not to ogle the more attractive ladies too obviously.

My ability to drink a lot has slid significantly in the last ten years. It was an early-ish night.

Slept like a rock, but this morning was headache-free, so yay for high-quality booze!

The Dangers of Mocking Mother Nature

I went to lunch with a bunch of my teammates today. The weather forecast was for wind and rain. We'd had plenty of the wind but not so much rain up to that point.

One of my friends drove and as I sat in the passenger seat, I made a comment to that effect. I actually believe I said something like "Wow, what a pathetic excuse for rain."

Hindsight being 20-20, I probably should've kept my trap shut.

We finally found parking at the restaurant. Street parking. Just as the skies opened up and the rain came down heavily at a lovely 45-degree angle.

My jeans are still damp.

My umbrella was not as helpful as I'd hoped it would be.

Life lesson here: Mother Nature (or God) isn't really keen on me mouthing off too much.

Lesson learned? Probably not...

AAAAH!!! WANT!!!!

WANT!

WANT!

WANT!!!!

Sublime Awesome and Irritating Hotmail

So I roused myself early and watched last night's "Fringe" episode in its entirety.

Wow.

That was pretty awesome. I feel rather giddy. This will, of course, make it all the harder when FOX inevitably cancels the show. God forbid they'd put it on another night.

This, of course, just makes Friday all the better. And this Friday has taken an eternity or six to arrive so I'm especially overjoyed it's here.

Pretty much the only thing that's dampening my mood is Hotmail. Oh, I don't have a Hotmail account. No, no. For some reason, Hotmail is treating all my personal emails from my ISP as spam. Doesn't matter who I send mail to. If they have a Hotmail account, it's bouncing.

This happens about three or four times a year for about a week or so, then it goes away.

I only ever have this problem when I'm runnning an email roleplaying game with my friends (one or two of whom have Hotmail accounts) and only with Hotmail itself.

I can kind of see why the RPG stuff might trigger a spam filter. I'm not sure why my email to a friend overseas would.

And, of course, I have no business relationship of any kind with Hotmail so there's no one I can really resolve this with.

Jackasses.

Oh well. At least it's Friday.

MacGyver Tailoring

The downside to a martial arts class is that you've got to wash your uniform pretty regularly in order to keep it from evolving into a new life form and murdering you in your sleep with a rank odor.

Good, clean fun.

This does put a bit of wear-and-tear on an outfit that's already getting its fair share of abuse. Washing machines are not gentle constructs.

The pants of most martial arts uniforms I've owned are essentially a pair of white cloth pants secured about the waist by a draw-cord of some sort. Usually said draw cord is looped through the pants along the waist.

The sucky part is when the cord is double-looped about the waist (as my current uniforms are) and part of the cord gets pulled so it's stuck mid-way through a seam so I can't pull it tight. My only option is to pull the cord loose entirely and try to figure out how to re-string it.

Did I mention I'm hopeless with a needle and string? I'm especially wary of messing with any sewing on white cloth. My blood (from said needle) would doubtless stain the outfit.

So, on my last laundry pass (last night), this happened with one pair of pants. I had to pull part of the cord loose and yeah... I figured that was that. Time to buy a new uniform ('cause God forbid a supply store would only sell the pants... that would make too much sense).

I don't know what inspired me to grab a wire hanger from my closet, straighten it, duct-tape one end to the cord, and use the straightened hanger to re-string the pants.

I may never know.

All I know is that it worked.

I don't consider myself an especially-brilliant example of humanity, but damn I'm proud of my little flicker of resourcefulness tonight.

Yeah, shut up. I know it's a small thing. Let me have my victories, damnit.

Yeeeeaaaaahhhh....

Once again, the siren lure of advertising through blogs like Uncrate works like a charm on me.

I got one of these.

Just arrived today.

Why? I dunno. Maybe I need something last-ditch for the zombie apocalypse.

More likely it's that I have poor impulse control in my spending habits.

We all live in a...

More neat random stuff. (Gizmodo)

Wow

Saw this bit on Mao's underground Beijing, thanks to an io9 story.

This stuff is always awesome to read about.

frothing frenzy of frantic... um...

Okay, the title got away from me. I can admit that.

It's funny how my Tuesday ended. I completed a baking marathon the likes of which I've not done in a year or so.

I started off making some kind of strawberry shortcake cookie things for my friend as a birthday present.

Those... didn't wind up looking all that great. I sampled one that broke as I chipped it off the cookie pan. Tastes okay. I'm hoping my friend likes the batch. I figured out what I did wrong, so a second try should go smoother.

Then I made a batch of cookies, mainly to make sure I can still do it. I owe a batch to someone and so this batch was a trial run for the office (I saved a few for my own consumption).

And finally, brownies. Yeah. Those are dangerous. I've circulated some of those to my teammates at work.

Never hurts to provide sugary snacks to the coworkers. It helps garner a bit of goodwill when I need information later on down the road.

All that baking made me spin a bit. I wound up crashing early-ish last night and reading my latest book acquisition: "Monster" by A. Lee Martinez. It's quirky and kind of funny, so I'm enjoying it.

Then I heard a soft tap at my door that might, conceivably, be knocking.

Nobody knocks on my door. Well, hardly ever.

So I staggered to the door. One of my younger neighbors was a bit panicked. I guess her wireless died and she was working on some kind of assignment that required access to the Borg Collective.

Anyone asking me to diagnose problems with hardware must be truly desperate. She sounded really upset and stressed, so I grabbed a spare Ethernet cable and followed her into her apartment.

I'm always amused when people apologize for their places being a mess. Mind you, these are people who have not seen the chaos that is my apartment. If they only knew... but I digress.

Yeah. I had no idea why her wireless wasn't connecting her laptop to the Borg Collective. A light was out. Why was it out? I dunno. She turned the thing off and on again and that resulted in zip.

When in doubt, I'm a fan of hard-wiring. The router indicated it was still connected to the Internet, so I handed off the Ethernet cable on a loan and trundled on back to bed.

I don't think I've ever seen someone so happy to be reconnected. That's one serious student.

I should have offered her a cookie. Might have helped with the stress.

Ah well.

Halfway through the week!

InfoHurl

Saw these on multiple blogs (OhGizmo! and another blog that escapes my memory right now).

$317 + shipping for sunglasses. Yikes.

Yeah, I can resist that expenditure. Especially after California jacked up taxes so my paychecks are shrinking. Just in time for xmas, too.

--
Saw these on multiple gadget blogs as well. These puzzle me. Why not just wear or carry a watch?

--
I watched AMC's remake of "The Prisoner" for a bit. I don't understand why they bothered to use the name of the classic 60's series. Why not tweak the story a bit and present it as something more original? The way it was written (slow, plodding, a bit dull) it served double-duty as being uninteresting and pissing off fans of the original.

With a bit of editing and tightening, it probably could have been a more compelling story. I found my interest waning fairly quickly, though and I watched both episodes from Sunday night as well as what I could catch on TV last night.

Remake fever. Seriously... what the hell? I think the only remake that's been worth a crap was Abrams' Star Trek movie. And to be honest, that flick had little to do with classic "Star Trek". It would have been better to go with something completely original and let Roddenberry's legacy rest.

The Weird

My building had some paint work done recently.

So it's November, right? We're well in the middle of Autumn and heading towards Winter.

So why is it that I'm seeing all kinds of pollen embedded in the fresh paint? What the hell is pollenating in NOVEMBER???

And how do I make it stop? 'Cause I'm reasonably sure that's why I've been feeling sick lately.

Well that and the crappy ventilation in my office.

A Flurry of the Crazy

Eleven hours of gaming on Saturday. While my last post implied I didn't enjoy it, I was being a bit disingenuous. I had a marvelous time until about 10pm when I could feel my (cold? allergies? ailment?) creeping up on me and sapping life force.

A little after 11pm, I called an end to it and shoved everyone out of my apartment. I was having difficulty keeping track of my plot threads and that's a bad thing when you're GMing a game. It's especially worse given the complexity of the game I was running and the sophistication of the six (!!!) players I had.

Sunday I was moving slowly. I felt fine after I got some sleep, but I wasn't breaking any speed records to do anything. I trucked in to see the 'rents and had a fairly standard visit. I'd meant to bow out of dinner, but lingered instead and enjoyed a fine meal with the whole family. I think I made it home around 7pm.

I'm pretty damn tired still. Good times.

At least I don't feel sick anymore.

ugh

Eleven hours of gaming.

I'm getting too old for this.

Downtime Upswing

For someone who takes slacking to near-religious levels, I find I have a very hard time taking it easy. When I have hobbies I enjoy, I have difficulty backing off and letting myself coast away from them. Leads to burnout and/or injury, more often than not.

As I started feeling ill this week, I forced myself to take a break. Minimal time on my email gaming stuff. No martial arts.

After work, I just read a bit, watched TV, and got caught up on sleep (with the aid of Nyquil over the last two days).

It helped.

I think I've pretty much shaken my cold. I feel pretty good this morning.

And that's good, 'cause nerds will arrive soon for gaming. I'm ready for that as well.

Ah, slacking. Is there nothing you can't cure?

Where's my hockey mask?

'Tis a chilly morning on this Friday, the 13th of November.

I lurk at my desk with my hood covering my head in the darkness of my cubicle. Why? The air conditioning has come on. And I like the psychotic Sith-monk look.

Automatic deposit has brought me monetary joy.

Email has brought a few anguished screams of job-related irritation and frustration.

The residue of Nyquil from the previous evening leaves me disoriented. My immune system is wresting with what appears to be a cold (or really severe allergies). Thus far, my immune system appears to be winning the battle. Ten-plus hours of sleep probably helped.

For reasons I'm not entirely clear on, this seems like a really cool little invention.

Tomorrow, nerds meet for a brainmeat stew of psychosis.

I require more coffee.

Downtiming

I've decided to take the balance of the week off with respect to my class. I need to heal up a bit. I'm still dealing with some pain issues in the limbs. Ugh.

Perhaps I'll do some jogging to get the requisite exercise in the meantime. At least the legs and feet work.

Though, all of this is a good excuse to embrace that cyborg body. Hm...

I might be fighting a bug, too.

Yeah, sleep is good. I likes the sleep.

And the new "Fringe" tonight. I'm sure I'll like that too.

sleepytired

So sleepy... and it's only Wednesday.

Veteran's Day

So today is Veteran's Day.

Alas, my office does not offer this as a paid holiday, so I'm office-bound. Strictly-speaking, I'm waiting for a search to finish so I can get something done.

I'd like to say some pithy thing about how we should honor veterans and all that. Given that I'm not a veteran and all the actual veterans I know have long since passed away, it would sound a bit much to aim for pithy.

It seems enough to call out that it's Veteran's Day and those who served in armed forces deserve some recognition for all that they do.

And I really hope that we, as a world, get our shit together so soldiers won't have to do the soldier thing.

Hm. Turned into a semi-pithy posting anyway. And my search is done. Time to get back to the salt mines.

Subterranean Standard

It's Wednesday.

I can't think of anything to say that sounds witty in my mind.

Yes, I'm quite aware that the stuff I post isn't witty outside of the confines of my mind. Delusion only goes so far.

So it's sad when I can't even pass such a low bar.

I watched last night's second installment of "V". It was slightly better than the pilot.

Kind of in the way that getting jabbed by a three inch needle is slightly better than getting jabbed by a four inch needle.

The acting is still moderately horrible. The only saving graces are Elizabeth Mitchell and Morena Baccarin.

Peoples of Earth: Surrender

Surrender and bow to me as your new supreme overlord. I won't promise I'll be a benevolent ruler or even a particularly good ruler, but at least I'm being honest.

Rode my bike today. T'was a chilly ride but I regret nothing.

I can tell it's chilly when the hookers are not out on the street. That or Tuesday mornings function as their day off. Good for them. It's too cold in the mornings for the skanky mini-skirt look.

Tonight is the next installment of ABC's "V" remake. I'm torn. I absolutely hated the pilot episode, but given the dearth of science fiction on TV, I feel as though I should give it another chance. Hmph. Maybe one more chance. I'm a glutton for punishment, apparently.

If I ruled the Earth with an iron fist, any remakes would only be allowed if they were spectacularly-good. Otherwise, the writers and the producers would be put in a deep, dark pit and forced to do death-match battles with horrific mutant monsters until they were devoured for the entertainment of the masses.

Hey, it worked for the Romans, or it would have if they had access to horrific mutant monsters.

I will have horrific mutant monsters. Have no fear on that score.

I'm rather tired this morning. Tired and megolmaniacal. Must be Tuesday.

Conversation in the Office

Staff 1: "I had a very productive lunch today."

Staff 2: "That statement sounds wrong."

Damn skippy.

Lingering Suckage

So you're practicing grappling (and not in the fun manner of romance... I'm talking more about a martial, trying-to-break-someone way).

Your opponent is strong like a freak and weighs nearly as much as you do.

You can't really breathe.

You're having trouble breaking a hold.

Something along your ribs, on your back, just... gives.

That's it for the evening. You're shot. Hurts to bow. Hurts to inhale. You're concerned that maybe one or two of those ribs actually cracked.

Hot shower. Icy/Hot pack. Advil.

The next morning, you're more functional. Your back hurts still, but it's not nearly as crippling-bad as it was.

Good times. Ribs are clearly not-cracked. It's got to be a pulled muscle or something.

Survivable.

Fast-forward a couple of days. The pain is lessening. The pull isn't nearly as bad as you thought it was.

Then the air conditioning goes on in your office. You sneeze.

THERE it is!

Yep. Hurts to inhale again.

Goddamnit.

So. Cool.

This backpack may redefine "cool".

195 Euros is a chunk of change, though. That's about $292.19, according to an online currency converter.

Ouch.

Brrrisk!

'Tis a wee-bit chilly this fine mornin'.

A slight nip in the air.

I love it.

Mm

Quiet Sunday.

Nothing of substance to report.

Carry on.

Fringe redux

As "Fringe" episodes go, last night's wasn't bad. It wasn't one of the better ones, but it did shine a spotlight on the character of Broyles a bit. Good times.

It was kind of "X-Files"-ish, really. Well, more so than usual.

Not that it's a bad thing, mind you.

Fringing on a Friday

Ah "Fringe", you restore my faith in television.

Well, you did until io9 reported that you're having problems with ratings and might get cancelled.

*sigh*

Only watched part of last night's recording this morning. I was trying to get caught up on the news as I devoured breakfast. That attack on Fort Hood is truly disturbing.

V-ery bad

I finished watching the first episode of ABC's remake of "V".

What a load of shit.

Oh, Morena... why do you lend your goddess-like countenance to this load of steaming crap?

First of all, most of the show is overacted and not in a "it's so bad it's good" way.

Then there's the dialog. "What's our weapon?" [meaningful look] "Devotion."

Are you SERIOUS?

All the characters are bad cliches. The narrative flow is horrifically choppy.

Oh, and thank you ABC for the not-too-veiled commentary on the Obama administration. Evil aliens support universal healthcare. Yeah. Thanks.

It really troubles me that there are idiots out there who probably think that's really the case.

"Gasp! Socialist aliens are trying to make our poor people healthy! Damn them and their alien meedling!"

Oh, and the one African American actor? Well... I'd hate to spoil things for people who actually watch the show, but let's just say I can understand why one of my friends thinks there's some racist overtones to the show.

The original "V" wasn't great by any stretch, but it's goddamn SHAKESPEARE next to this piece of steaming offal.

Thanks for wasting an hour of my life, ABC.

The only that surprises me is that this kind of crap wasn't actually on FOX. It certainly sounds like Rush Limbaugh had a pudgy, drug-addled finger in it.

slow crawl

Chance of rain. Meh.

I'm too tired to care.

Moving so slowly today.

puzzling politics

I'm scanning the news and reading a bit about the election results from yesterday. Seems the Repubs did well in several races. There's speculation that this means trouble for the Obama administration in a couple of years, especially if Congress doesn't start focusing on unemployment.

Really?

Seriously?

Sure, the high unemployment in the U.S. is a serious problem and needs to be addressed, but does anyone really think the Republican party holds any kind of reasonable solutions to that? This is the party that's all about deregulation which helps policies like outsourcing which leads to fewer U.S. jobs...

I'm actually flabbergasted that the Democratic party can still function given how disorganized and ineffectual they are. They hold majorities in Congress and hold the Executive branch. Instead of pushing forward agendas to fix the damage of the previous administration, they're making a lot of ineffectual noise about "bipartisanship" and not getting a goddamn thing done. Case in point: the healthcare bill.

Did anyone seriously think that was going to be any good? As soon as there was noise about bipartisanship and the Repugnicans dominated the debate, that bill was dead. Seems to me that the Dems should've taken the offensive from day one and never let up.

Of course, that would require them to pull their collective heads out of their asses. That's probably asking for too much.

I'm all for bipartisanship, but let's be realistic. It ain't gonna happen if the Democrats can't get their own party members in line. Nevermind Lieberman... that tool should be shunned altogether. He's a Republican. Stop pretending he isn't and move on, guys.

It's like watching a train wreck. Gah.

Status Report

I didn't bother to watch 'V' last night. I taped it. I watched part of it this morning. I can already tell I'm going to intensely dislike most of the characters.

And that's after five minutes of showtime.

Still... Morena Baccarin...

Sorry. Where was I? Oh yes.

New "Fringe" tomorrow. That has me more excited. Killer shadow creature that dissolves people into an ash-like dust. Now THAT's what I'm talkin' about! You know what this show needs? Morena Baccarin!

I need to focus.

My work is going through policy shifts. I've managed to dodge a bullet in that regard and be a "test case". This will allow me to continue to attend my classes on-time... at least for now. This could all change next week. Livin' la vida Morena Ba... aaaah!

Cooler this morning. The weather report claims a ten to fifteen degree drop today and possible rain tomorrow through Friday. Good times. It's November. I'm ready for cooler weather and rain.

See? I can make a statement without referring to Morena Baccarin.

Um...

D'oh.

Remakery

Tonight ABC's remake of NBC's "V" airs.

No matter how many times I re-read that statement, it sounds pretty ridiculous.

Even with Morena Baccarin (mmm... Morena Baccarin...) in it, I fully-expect this remake to suck beyond human capacity to understand. Why?

The original "V" was okay for its time, but it hasn't really aged all that well and like most attempts at a franchise, it pewtered out into well-earned oblivion for a reason.

Did the lessons of Reanimator teach us nothing? Don't raise the dead! That counts for TV shows too! Remember "Knight Rider", after all.

That said, I expect I'll watch the show tonight. If I have to eat my words, well I can live with that.

November Arrives

Okay, technically it arrived yesterday but I was too busy slacking to take note.

A full moon of a Monday is kicking me in the face, so now I've started to notice.

Yeah. November.

2009 is doing the Kessel Run in record time, isn't it?

And the Bay Bridge is still closed. Personally, I'm not directly affected by the bridge closure and I'd just as soon CalTrans take the time they need and do it right. That piece that fell off last week was 500 pounds of big. Would've crushed my little car like a grape.

So, November. Time to start gearing up my tummy for Turkey Day later this month.

Should be an interesting month, all said. I've already booked every weekend into December (and that's going to fill up fast).

The roller coaster of the year is on a downward spiral.

Yawn

That has to be the most low-key Halloween-on-a-weekend I've ever experienced.

I can't say I was inspired to do much. I briefly considered going into the City, but with the Bay Bridge out, BART would have been more nightmarish than usual.

Now it's a lazy Sunday.

I love that, but alas Monday will follow. Ugh.

Developments at work are not making me look forward to tomorrow.

BOO!

It's Halloween.

I'm personally celebrating by going through my massive list of horror movies I own. Lacking costume ideas (and any interest in crowds at all), I'm not terribly inclined to go anywhere.

Good, unclean, fun!

Willpower

Willpower is not something I've had in abundance in my life. I've never really been much for self-discipline.

That's especially a problem around Halloween when so many tempting treats are before me. Pizza lunches. Caramel popcorn. Chocolates.

These combos do not sit will in my stomach anymore, alas.

I've learned in recent years that willpower and self-discipline are traits that would go a long way towards making me a happier person overall.

Sucks that these traits are soooooo hard to maintain.

Hang on. I hear a dessert calling me from the kitchen. AARRGH! There I go again!

*sigh*

potential spooky

I never got a costume together and today is my office Halloween thing.

Meh.

It's also payday. Yay!

mmmm

Took the day off today. Did some cat sitting with the world's most hyperactive big-footed tabby cat.

He's freakin' adorable. Just so you know. Many hours of that furry behemoth running around chasing whatever toys I dangled at him.

I nearly lost a finger.

Oh hell, I nearly lost an arm!

Very fun.

Now allergies are catching up with me. Glad I picked up my comics so I can chill.

huh

The Bay Bridge is closed.

That's going to make today interesting.

Not "interesting" like I found fifty bucks and started dating a supermodel. More like "interesting" in the way that a sudden sinkhole in the road makes your day a lot less fun.

I don't drink... wine

There's a few things I think I share with a lot of the human race:

1) I don't like my blood on the outside of my body.

2) I don't like that feeling of my skin being open in areas it's not supposed to be.

I'm squeamish that way.

And - hey! - scalp cuts of any kind bleed a lot!

Whee!

Oh, it's nothing serious. Just stings.

Oh, and bleeds a lot.

Bleah.

Nerdgasm

The Cup of Tears film trailer. Dir. Gary Shore from Gary Shore on Vimeo.

Saw it on io9 and... wow.

allergens

My allergies have been rather savage for the last week or so. They've been particularly bad since Friday.

And today, the Bay Area gets a wind advisory.

What's that mean for me? Well, besides a wise decision not to ride my bicycle to work on this cool morning, it means crap in the air that will maul my sinuses and eyes.

Yeah. Love this.

And ironically, Autumn is pretty much my favorite season.

Unrelated: Ain't It Cool News has clips for Tales of an Ancient Empire. The acting is so bad in these clips that they make old "Hercules" and "Xena" episodes look good.

The actresses are lovely, but the dialog is just... painful.

Must be Tuesday

Got in an hour early in hopes that I would be able to finish something before a rather vague deadline.

I have outstanding questions on the subject, but I'm mostly ready to go.

So I then went into my list of webcomics and the like.

And then I got to Erik's blog and saw this:



Yeah. Pure awesome.

On Parenting

I don't pretend that I would be a good parent in the unlikely and disasterous event that I had offspring.

That said, there are a few behaviors I expect I would have under control. It really only takes one encounter with some trash parent on the street for me to recognize that.

In this instance, I was walking at lunch near my office. It's a pretty busy area. Lots of people around.

So there's this kid by the bikes in one area. His mom is standing by him lecturing him on something I didn't know (or care) about. What caught my attention was the amazing amount of profanity this woman was squeezing into her scolding.

It was epic. It was almost poetry.

It was also directed at a child who has yet to see his teen years.

Okay, so maybe the kid is cutting school. It's possible. He could have been doing any number of things, but really I had to ask what this woman thinks she's teaching her kid in terms of behavior patterns.

Right then I didn't think she was teaching the kid much about self-discipline or correct behavior.

She was teaching him how to swear like a sailor.

Now I use more than my fair share of profanity in life. I admit that. I wasn't raised to swear. Indeed, I was unable to swear in front of my parents until I was well into my 20's. Even then, I only did so sparingly and in times of extreme stress. Still do.

I avoid swearing at work. I try not to swear around people I don't know, especially ladies (thanks for the chivalry training Mom and Dad). And I absolutely try my utmost not to swear around kids. They don't need to hear that from me. They'll learn it all in life and it's really not appropriate behavior in polite society.

That said, I'd sooner gnaw my arm off than criticize this woman to her face. It's not my job to tell someone else how to parent. The kid looked healthy, so she's clearly doing something right.

All the same, I consider my mind boggled a bit.

A little unclear

Apparently a man punched another man, thinking said victim was a zombie.

Really?

Punched him?

As someone who has watched a few zombie movies, I think punching zombies is not a good tactic or a smart idea.

That said, I'm glad the zombie-puncher didn't have a shotgun or chainsaw handy. That would have been unfortunate in this situation.

bizness

Dropping a few bits of grey matter on my keyboard this morning.

- Today's (or is it yesterday's?) xkcd honors the end of GeoCities in a particularly brilliant way.

- I'm still amazed at how awesome the Shattuck Cinemas are in Berzerkeley. Giant comfy chairs and - towards the front of the theater - massive beanbags.

That's an idea whose time has come.

- I should probably start thinking about a Halloween costume soon.

Observations

1) Zombieland is an incredibly-funny movie.

2) The Shattuck Cinemas in Berkeley have some of the most comfortable seats I've ever had the pleasure of sitting in.

bier

Oktoberfest beer is a sweet, sweet thing.

Friday

That's all, really.

I'm sure something more interesting will come along later.

Maybe not.

Really cool

Saw this on Neatorama.

I love stuff like this.

Webcomic Win

Today's personal favorites:

xkcd (technically this was yesterday's)

Least I Could Do (warning: may require brain bleach. You can't un-see this.)

Looking For Group (ah... Fantasy theology)

WTF?

...the United States has never lost its moral bearings... - Dick Cheney, former Vice President of the United States.

With all due respect to the former Vice President (and I don't have any respect for the man at all), he wouldn't know what moral bearings were with a company of priests, a scout troop, and a compass crafted by angels.

wow

I've discovered "Uncharted 2: Among Thieves". Specifically, I've discovered their cutscenes on YouTube.

Great stuff!

Plays like a good movie.

Hello, Hollywood? Try to pay attention this time.

The desolation of a Tuesday

There's just not a lot of great stuff that happens on Tuesdays.

Monday is behind you, yes. Alas, Wednesday through Friday lies ahead.

And really weird, ugly things often bubble to the surface on Tuesdays.

Could be worse, I guess.

Got a new trashy movie to help distract me from all the crazy.

A Plague of Sugar

Trader Joe's has somehow used its mind control powers to get me to pick up a series of sugary sweets from them.

The blackberry gummi spiders are too damn good.

Gah.

Post Rain

There's nothing quite like the air after a rainstorm.

It has a sort of charged and fresh feel to it. I expect that's because the air is still moist and thus can carry more scents.

It doesn't explain the fresh feeling in a city, given how unpleasant most city scents are.

Ah well. I'm not going to question a good thing in this case.

The world looks fresh, clean, and renewed this morning (corny and cliche as that sounds).

I wonder how long it will take for that feeling to go away?

Holy Noah's Ark, Batman!

The "light showers" predicted were a bit more than anticipated. Some of the streets I normally take home are a but aquatic today.

I think I shall avoid class tonight. My balcony has garnered a bit of water. Time to sweep away debris.

Whee!

Day of Mon

Ah Mondays. How I hate them.

My stomach is a bit unsettled over something I ate over the weekend. It's not helped by the occasional boughts of candy gobbling I'm doing. There's just something about Twix bars...

Aaah!

Must... find... self... control...

Whew

What a last couple of days.

Lots of sake last night. Rough morning this morning. Then a "Call of Cthulhu" game set in Los Angeles of 1947.

Brilliant. Utterly brilliant.

And totally f***ed up.

Loved it.

Kirk would be outraged

I found out about this through Neatorama.

I'm not surprised. I'm only mildly horrified. I mean, really. Klingon rap? Klingons don't rap. Klingons are METAL!

Romulans would totally rap. So would Gorns.

Klingons? Hm. Just doesn't feel right.

I love how weird the world is. World, don't ever change.

Dreaming of Fringe

Yes, I'm trying to be clever. Gotta have goals, after all.

The latest episode of "Fringe" was about someone using dreams to... well, why spoil it?

It was more brilliant mad science. Good clean fun.

And mad science.

And end to it

What a freakin' crazy week!

It's premature for me to celebrate its end, given that I have the rest of Friday to get slammed with more weirdness, but I'm hoping the bulk of the weird is done.

Time to find some wood to knock on and some salt to toss over the shoulder.

Reflections upon 2009 thus far

It's been a goddamn weird year.

Just sayin'

Unrelated: the USPS finally delivered my package. Why was their tracking system screwed? Good question.

USPSux

Ah, U.S. Postal Service... Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow, nor whatever weather excuse will stop you from delivering your rounds.

That list doesn't appear to include technology failures or illiterate (or perhaps just stupid) carriers, though.

I'd really like to track my package. I would. I wish your system worked.

Of course, it may well have been delivered... to the wrong building or the wrong mailbox. 'Cause it's not like that's never happened before.

Don't worry about my neighbor's bills, btw. I delivered them to her. Thanks for your concern.

Hey, there's some materials you guys might appreciate: "Hooked on Phonics". I hear they help people learn how to goddamn read.

Bitter? Moi? Why would you think that?

Filler

[Something interesting to say]

[Okay, maybe not. More like something I think is interesting. Probably means it's not.

Meh.]

Well now... that's a surprise

It's Wednesday. How about that?

Halfway there!

I kind of love it when it's later in the week than I think it is.

Doesn't stop me from wishing it were Friday.

Wonderous medicine

Once again I feel the need to sing the praises of Nyquil.

It may have simply been psychosomatic due to the rain, but yesterday I felt as though I was coming down with a cough. I felt a pressure in my chest and my voice was quickly fading.

After I got home, I puttered about, had dinner, cleaned up a bit, showered, then slammed a shot of Nyquil.

I was asleep by 7pm.

This morning I feel right as r... oh wait. Hm.

Doesn't matter. I feel good.

Love that stuff.

Fund Raising Candy

... is a thing of pure evil.

Succumbing to its siren lure is a bad thing.

A very bad thing.

The Guild

I finished watching season one of "The Guild" last night. Finally.

Damn but that's a funny offering.

Wet when Slippery

Hey! It's raining!

They predicted rain. I woke not being terribly impressed. I couldn't hear the rain, ergo it was not raining hard. Then I watched the weather report. Silly me. The heavy rain is apparently still en route. Whee!

I got a little taste yesterday after class. It sprinkled a bit.

I barely noticed. I was too exhausted and my mind was still a-whirl from my eventful workday.

I'm curious how today will go.

creak...

...go my bones.

Perhaps attending a Sunday class was not the wisest idea I've ever had. I hurt in all sorts of interesting places.

That said, I regret nothing.

Except, of course, getting up this morning. Ugh.

Blurt

Friday's "Dollhouse" was an improvement, but this season is still a bit lacking.

---

Yesterday's game was a more-or-less success. I was overly-ambitious in what I tried to do and it didn't communicate well into the actual game. Same old story, really.

---

Just finished a fairly-successful family visit.

---

Read the last issue of "Planetary". Mmm...

countdown

In roughly an hour, my gaming buddies descend upon my cave-like dwelling for a day of RPG goodness.

Good times.

Wish I were ready.

Ugh.

This is why

Shape-shifting secret agents from an alternate reality with mercury for blood who are stealing cryogenic-ally frozen heads.

Yep.

I can't believe that I know people who ask me why I like "Fringe".

Fear my Wolf Warrior Skillz! Grrr!

I saw these on Uncrate.

Back in my days as a peripheral character with the SCA, I probably would have considered these cool.

Hell, there are days even now when I probably still would.

That was before the Three Wolf Moon shirt.

That meme has successfully poisoned the look one of my friends refers to as "pagan snapperhead". At $25 a pop for these little necklace things, I'm not sure that's a bad thing.

Anyways, tt's hard to take warrior poetry seriously these days.

Booksessss

Wow. 1301 posts. I clearly need a life.

Anyway... books.

I need new reading material. Borders sent me a lovely 40% off coupon, so I jaunted on over and perused their dwindling stock of anything of interest.

After a couple of passes, I noted the latest Joe Abercrombie book, Best Served Cold.

I liked the three books of the First Law that he previously wrote in that world. They aren't happy books, but they got increasingly better, for a series of stories about utterly unsympathetic characters.

I decided to give this one a try.

It's hardback and I was looking for something easier to carry, so I also picked up a copy of David Brin's The Postman.

Yes, there was a Kevin Costner movie based on this. Ignore it. The book is solid. I'd lost my previous copy, so a few bucks later and I had a replacement.

... of another depressing book.

Yeesh.

I had to hit the laundromat yesterday 'cause some punkass in my building took over the laundry room in the afternoon. I took Best Served Cold with me and burned through a few chapters. I do like this book a lot so far. Abercrombie's narrative style has gotten smoother and he's got somewhat more sympathetic characters this time.

We'll see how this goes.

Moon Men declare WAR

This just in: The Moon Men have declared war on the Earth following acts of aggression from NASA.

NASA has confirmed a launch resulting in an impact on the Moon's south pole. There is no word on any Moon Man casualties.

There are unconfirmed reports that the NASA action is in response to Moon Man aggression via their terrestrial agent, Roland Emmerich.

In other news, Elvis has come out of secret retirement to organize the defense of the Earth.

My current favorite video/song

I can't get this damn song out of my head. This video makes me laugh. So I share.

Shambling forth on a Thursday

Pain. It's still with me. I did some kind of mild tweak to my ankle and my shoulder is still giving me trouble. Part of me is tempted to see a doctor about my shoulder but the last few times I've sought medical advice on these sorts of pains (related to martial arts) I've never gotten any useful feedback.

Me: "My knee hurts."
Doctor: "No swelling. Hm. X-Rays don't show anything. Not sure what it could be. Why don't you monitor it and let me know if it gets worse."

Meh. It's not crippling. It did get me moving extra slow this morning. As a result I opted to drive rather than bike. Lazy me...

Wrapped up some of my gaming stuff for Saturday's nerdfest. I think I'm going to stop doing these email intervals. They're too much work for too little payback.

"Fringe" tonight. I feel glee. GLEE!

ow

I think I blew out my shoulder tonight in class.

It may well be a good idea for me to chill a bit. I'll decide tomorrow if that means bike to work or drive.

Ugh.

Books

I've recently had two books on my list:

* Thirteen Orphans by Jane Lindskold

and

* Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey

I've touched on these in prior posts, but they both deserve a little more attention.

Thirteen Orphans is billed on Amazon is being in the same vein as Jim Butcher's Dresden Files (they actually say if you're a fan of the Dresden Files, you'll like Orphans). I'm hard-pressed to see why.

In a nutshell: Brenda Morris, a college student, finds out she's got a very weird heritage of magic stemming from a place called the Land of Smoke and Sacrifice. She's part of a magical tradition that is aligned with Chinese Astrology. In her case, she's the heir to the role of the Rat. And someone's popping around stealing the memories and powers of the various other roles.

It's conceptually a neat story. The magic used by the titular Thirteen Orphans is connected to the game of mah jong. It's subtle and understated in many ways, but clever.

Where I have problems is the narrative. The story is plodding and slow. The heroine's issues seem more at home in a bad soap opera than set against the novel's backstory. For the most part, nothing really happens until the last few chapters of the book and even then it ends on a cliffhanger. It's not even a particularly interesting cliffhanger. Can't say I'm tempted to pick up the next book.

And I have no idea why Amazon connects this with Butcher's work. They're nothing alike.

Then there's Sandman Slim. A couple of friends suggested this to me as a read, also telling me it has a Dresden Files feel to it. Another friend had a copy and found the story to be somewhat unappealing, so she gave me her copy.

I sat down that evening and started reading.

In terms of narrative, it does have a strong noir feel, like the Dresden Files. The main character is a misanthropic bastard, but that doesn't really bother me. He had a somewhat interesting background and some fascinating abilities. I didn't mind the childish levels of profanity. It was all good times.

And then I was halfway through and the story didn't seem to go anywhere.

The main guy, Stark, is supposed to be this incredible badass, but he spends almost all of his time getting the crap kicked out of him and healing. He's walking around with a bunch of bullets in his chest. Why? Just 'cause he doesn't feel like having them removed. But they hurt.

Um...

He's supposed to be this powerful magician, but he doesn't use his magic 'cause he's afraid his enemies will find him. Nevermind that they find him anyway.

Um...

And then, as he's bumbling around like a brain-dead chimp, he suddenly gets the nickname of "Sandman Slim". No explanation. No context. Boom. There it is.

The narrative quickly devolves into a sort of rambling thing I'd expect from a hormone-crazed 13 year old whose entire life is violent video games and bad porn.

About 2/3rds through the book, I put it down somewhere in boredom. I haven't bothered to pick it up again. I'm not sure I'm going to bother.

Results

And as Tuesday winds down to a close:

- groceries. Check. Everybody and their goddamn cousins is shopping today.

- pasta sauce cooked. Check.

- "Thirteen Orphans" finished. Check. Not the best book I've ever read.

- Get to episodes of "The Guild. Fail.

Tired.

Tuesday Highlights

Thus far:

- I've discovered a heretofore unknown project that I've had to unearth information on. And I have looming deadlines next week. Whee!

- The A/C is blasting cold air to the point where I have to wear a hat to protect my skull.

- A friend is teaching me how to say naughty things in another language.

It's not even noon yet.

Profound Words

Layers are a good thing when it's chilly. Layers are a f***ing FANTASTIC thing when you're stupid enough to ride your bicycle in to the office on a chilly morning.

I thought I'd share that observation.

No need to thank me.

There's not much else to say on a Tuesday morning.

Because I'm weak

I wanted it. I got it.

MINE!

Just 'cause I could. And it's shiny.

Samui desu

It's a wee bit chilly this fine, cloudless, moonlit morning.

It's supposed to warm up gradually after today. I take that to mean that my bike ride in tomorrow will be cold. That ought to be interesting.

I love the autumn for many reasons. Here in the Bay Area, we don't get the heavy-impact of seasonal markers like large numbers of trees changing color. It happens, but it's not the same as back east. That said, there's a subtle change in the scents in the air and the light that always makes me feel more relaxed and "at home".

It also plays merry havoc with my allergies, but that's a constant companion all year around.

And when the temperatures shift, I wind up having the most vivid dreams. It's kind of neat... save that I have to rouse myself early on workdays.

Beats the alternative, I suppose. Unemployment wouldn't be fun.

It was a fun, random, relaxing weekend. I puttered in the city (as previously mentioned) and met some entertaining and odd folks. I spent some time with an elderly relative yesterday and worked on a jigsaw puzzle. Good clean fun there.

I was fed ridiculous amounts of food. I'm still digesting that. There goes my diet.

And I prepped a Call of Cthulhu character for an upcoming game. Nerd snort!

I want my baby back baby back ribs...

I'm a bit surprised by the sudden bought of unusually-cool weather after a recent stretch of rather warm weather.

Dunno why. I guess I'm just not used to October behaving like a "normal" Autumn. I mean in the Bay Area, we usually get our "summer" weather from August through late October.

Today I actually needed a light jacket (or a flannel shirt, as the case may be).

I've now devoured a ridiculous amount of food, thanks to my 'rents.

I feel food coma coming on.

Beer and the City

I ran an errand in scenic San Francisco today.

It effectively took all day.

Why?

The "Love Fest" out in Civic Center. I was wondering why I saw a series of technicolor tarted-up teenage gals on my 9 car train (which was standing room only). Apparently the "Love Fest" and a bluegrass festival dominated the city's time.

Thus, I opted to stop by O'Neils (a fantastic Irish pub near the AT&T stadium) for a few before hopping the train home.

In and around my three pints, I met some really fascinating people and got the skinny on the hippie kids. I traveled back with a crapload of them on BART as many of them tried to hit the Cal game in Berkeley.

The three pints have hit me a bit harder than expected, but that's welcome.

Not like I'm driving... or even know where my car keys are.

Blessed Weekend... so close...

The weekend is nearly here. I am giddy with joy over that prospect.

Mainly I'm looking forward to sleeping in. I'd like to get caught up on some viewing. I still need to finish my latest weird Japanese zombie movie (don't ask) and re-watch "Fringe" season one.

I need to write up the details of my next game. I figure I should do that since I've got about a week left before my next nerdfest.

I may do the hipster thing and drag my laptop along to some cafe and do some writing. I'm stalled on my current crap stories, but I got a new idea this week and want to outline it a bit to see if it's worth pursuing.

And I'll want to rest. I'm sore as hell from the last couple of days of martial arts and bicycling. I'll do class tonight, then collapse in a puddle of goo.

Assuming there's enough left of me to make a puddle.

Mooning

I love a full moon on a clear night/early morning.

It justifies all the weirdness.

Iran

Salon has a fascinating article on the "top ten things you didn't know about Iran".

Given all the sabre-rattling in the news of late, I thought it bore linking to.

This is the RIGHT way to do it!

(Warning: Blood)

Video Game - E3 2009 - Attack of the Show

Erik shared this with me. I haven't laughed this hard in a long time.

October Fess

Yesterday was one of those days. One of my co-workers left and the good-bye celebration got rescheduled to a craptacular time I couldn't make, partially due to my class and partially due to an errand I had to run.

That, and other things, put me in a truly foul mood. I felt guilty about bailing on the sendoff and irritated about the errand. I'm on a bumpy road with a couple of my friends and it's also grating on me.

And so I was determined as hell to work it out of my system in class. Three hours of class, actually.

It would be nice if I retained all the stuff I was taught, but I don't have expectations for that. Still, it was totally worth it despite the fact I was pretty sure I was going to die of exhaustion during the second class warm-up.

I got it in my head that I'd ride my bike today. It's supposed to warm up so I threw on shorts instead of long pants for my ride in. My legs don't really get cold easily, so I figured it wouldn't be too bad.

Yeah... I was wrong.

It was chilly this morning. No fog. No clouds. It was as cool as prior mornings have been and I got to add wind chill from my bike ride.

My legs were cool but it's all good. I got Sasquatch blood, so all that fur keeps me warm. My ears were cold though. My mom gave me these really cool earmuff protector thingies for bike rides. I thought about putting them on, but discarded that idea.

Yeah. I won't repeat that mistake again this year. Brrr.

And now it's October. Huh.

scattershot

* mind-boggling.

* Her fans can read?

* Webcomics in a dark place: Very sad and creepy.

I'm glad I have class tonight. I find myself in a semi-foul mood and kind of want to hit something.

Septmusing

September is pretty much over.

Huh.

That was a pretty quick nine months of 2009.

How can a year go by so quickly and feel as though it's full of so much crazy?

Don't answer that.

Facing the Book

After getting peer pressure from a dozen different directions, I finally bit the bullet and created a Facebook account.

I'm not entirely sure what I'll ever use it for, but it's there. I guess I can look at people's pics now.

I did a few cursory searches for people. Did a few add requests. I'm not super-certain I want a lot of people in a list.

I guess I'm just not "Web 2.0". Heh.

Work: Day Two

On my second morning of being back to work, I'm finding the adjustment a bit easier.

I shouldn't. I rode my newly-fixed-up bike in and I'm sore from an abusive class last night, but all that seems to have fallen by the wayside as I'm finding myself unusually-productive.

Tired, but productive.

Aaaah

Broken-in shoes are a wonderful thing.

hrgh...

After a solid week off, I'm back in the office.

I lost count of how many emails awaited me. Some of these hold some truly annoying questions that I have no idea how to answer.

My plant somehow survived a week of me not watering it. Either someone else took up the slack or it's much hardier than I expected.

Good lord I'm tired.

Braaaaaaiiiinnnnnssss

Forbidden Island zombies are deadly.

Just sayin'.

That I can type coherently at all is pretty impressive (and proof of good spell-check software).

Zachary's Pizza compliments Forbidden Island outings well.

I've ingested a lot of rum of late.

Arr.

Baby is Back

Yes, I got my bike back today.

It's clean and has tires that hold air! Ah, the little things. I even let them talk me into some kind of crazy kevlar-mesh tire. Why? I have a gift card I won at work for this place. It's not really my money. Okay, some is (the card wasn't enough) but I'll wind up getting reimbursed through a bicycling program for some of what I'm out-of-pocket.

I love this stuff.

Personal Holidaze: Day Five Addendum One

8) Dinner and drinks with friends. Check. Good fun there.

9) More drinks. Check.

Dinner didn't settle terribly well and that experience got worse as the evening continued...

10) BART ride home feeling nauseous and ill. Check. For a change that wasn't due to imbibing. It was clearly something I ate.

Good times.

Personal Holidaze: Day Five

1) Wake without a hangover. Check.

2) Fattening breakfast. Check. Mmm... bacon...

3) Watch "Fringe". Check. Carnivorous mole children! Super senses! Doppelgangers! Me likey much.

4) Lunch. Pending. Not too hungry from breakfast. Do I want a base for later or will french toast and bacon do?

5) (More) drinks. Pending. Does this constitute a problem? No... only if I drink three days straight would that be a problem.

Hmm... and yet tomorrow night's plans involve... huh.

6) Set tape for "Dollhouse". Check.

7) Charge phone. Check.

If my bike were done early, I could collect it and get actual exercise riding it home. Alas...

Personal Holidaze: Day Four

1) Slack. Check.

2) Drink. Check.

Personal Holidaze: Day Three

1) Attempt to complete DMV business. Not check. Line was insane.

2) Exchange SIGG water bottles at REI for store credit. Check. Bonus: got new coin purse.

It's the little things.

3) Go to class. Check... mostly. I'd planned to do two sessions, but I'm experiencing pain in my shoulder and my previously-injured leg. It was the jumping-jacks in the warm-up. Blew my leg out. Time to call the doctor, I think.

4) Line up tomorrow's outing. Check. Some friends are showing late. This should be a hoot. One friend is giving me a lift in while another (one of the late-showing ones) is promising me a ride back. I guess in a worst-case scenario BART is walkable. Kinda.

Now... need Advil. Stat.

Personal Holidaze: Day Two

1) Sleep in. Check.

2) Purchase birthday card for a friend. Check. Local drugstore looks nice.

3) Watch DVDs. Check. Stardust and "Firefly".

4) Trek inland to visit an elderly relative. Check. Happiness seems to have been the end result. Yay!

The heat wave, such as it is, isn't bad at all here. Life is good.

Personal Holidaze: Day One Addendum

6) Survive class. Check.

7) Apply a smelly patch for muscle pain. Check.

8) Have flaky friend break tomorrow's dinner date. Check.

Personal Holidaze: Day One

1) Sleep in. Check.

2) Watch some TV. Sort-of check... daytime TV sucks, so it was DVD time. The Mummy is a classic.

3) Make an appointment for my bike repair. Check. Hell, these guys will just squeeze it in whenever. Dropped my baby off with high hopes of a shiny, repaired bike in the future.

4) Break in the new shoes. Check. Kinda.

Owie.

Still... treated myself to Chipotle for my troubles. Mmm... fajita burritos.

5) Class. An intended check.

I really could get used to being this level of slacker.

Urg...

Too much good food.

Can barely move.

Can barely type.

Nummy.

It be horribly wrong!

This bit o' schwag be provided via the Dread Pirate Erik who found such on his voyages.

It be wrong.

It be very wrong.

Arr!

Them's that dies be the lucky ones

Arr!

Today be Talk Like a Pirate day. I be noticin' th' local Trader Joe store be outfitted with the proper swag fer just such an occasion. All that be lackin' be the rum.

I be cravin' some grog. Perhaps later as I be sailin' out.

Me luck be otherwise holdin' as th' BART be delayed due to fire as I be leavin' th' Barbary Coast on an errand. 'Pon arrival at Port MacArthur, I be hearin' th' cryer sayin' the route be open again straight on through to me home landin'.

Pleased I be, for I be shod in new shoes an' me feet be feelin' a mite peg-legged with the newness of it all.

Aye, it be a good day for some rum and shiverin' me timbers.

That be soundin' naughty, so maybe just the rum.

A sigh of contentment

The eternal week is done. I shall enjoy a week's holiday to observe the Feast of Slackerhood.

If you're not aware of that holiday, now is a good time to start.

It was an uneven day. I had lunch with some friends, which was a plus. I had a mildly-humiliating class afterward and have had a few illusions (or are they delusions?) dispelled. It's for the best.

I'm really not looking forward to the predicted heat wave. *sigh*

It's back

Homicidal shape shifters.

Post-accident traffic accidents.

Revelations of all sorts.

Shock ending.

Ah "Fringe"... how I missed you.

Samurai Avenger: The Blind Wolf (NSFW)

One of my friends at work tipped me off to this film. So YouTube provided trailers.

I therefore feel obligated to share.

No need to thank me.

Um... NSFW.

Weather Woes

I'm taking next week off from work for a variety of reasons. And, as the fates would have it, I'm doing this just in time for a heat wave.

I hate hot weather. I really, really hate it.

Every year, just about now, "summer" hits the Bay Area. For a few days we get cooked in an oven of hot and then the blissful embrace of sweet, sweet fog cools us.

Usually.

The forecast is predicting a pretty solid five or six days of really hot weather. I'm hoping there's fewer than that.

Oh well, I guess I could always just go to the beach.

Squirm

It's like they know me.

Glee!

Apparently Ray Wise (of "Reaper" fame) and Summer Glau (of "Firefly" and the craptacular "Sarah Connor Chronicles") are going to be in "Dollhouse".

As a nerd, I am dutifully happy. So very happy.

The Devil is in the Dollhouse and with a little ballerina too!

Idiocy of the Haters

The Obama-haters are really starting to get to me.

The latest headline I saw was that 1 in 12 of those surveyed in New Jersey think Obama is the Antichrist.

Let's get away from how one can lie with statistics or proper statistical groups and all that. Let's pretend this isn't any kind of judgement of New Jersey as a state (and it really isn't).

That anyone in the United States feels that way about Obama just boggles the mind.

Seriously. Let's compare our single year of Barak Obama's term as President of the United States with a few highlightes of eight years of George W. Bush, shall we?

Barack Obama is trying to get Americans covered with universal health care. Most industrialized nations have far superior health care systems to the U.S., so he's trying to do the same for us.

What his opponents are accusing him of is a rambling, incoherent hodge-podge of terms like "communist", "facsist", blah-blah-blah.

The man is trying to make sure Americans are taken care of with proper health care and people are bagging on him. Why? Oh, they don't want government involved. You know, the same government that provides social security, medicare, medicaid, military protection, laws, oversees public parks, funds highways... all that stuff.

These same people largely don't seem to have a problem with the last eight years of BushCo waging an illegal war that got over two thousand of American soldiers killed and wasted billions upon billions of our tax dollars for a non-existent threat.

These same idiots didn't make a peep over Gitmo, illegal wiretapping, bold grabs for Executive powers, and countless blatant lies surrounding our military involvement in Iraq.

Okay...

So further, Obama has been striving for bipartisanship and consensus in pretty much everything he's done in establishing policy. Despite a bold and clear Democratic majority that pretty much spells out the public's support of anything that isn't holding to the last eight years of policy.

He doesn't have to do this. All the same, he's been patiently striving for mending bridges. I personally think he should tell the Republican party to stick it where the sun doesn't shine and move on. The Republicans have been nothing but difficult and obnoxious since day one. Then again, the Democrats demonstrate time and time again that they're chaotic, unable to maintain a single coherent message, and lack even the most basic spinal column.

All the same, that hardly qualifies the President as being demonic or adhering to any Marxist teachings.

I take issue with Obama's reluctance to persecute those who authorized torture. I have huge problems with any continuation of the wiretapping/spying policies that the Executive branch have in place. I feel that the other two branches need to spank the Executive branch for overstepping in its grasp of powers.

That said, all of those issues originated in Bush's term in office. If you're looking for an Antichrist, I think you can safely find a couple from that era.

I think former President Carter hit the nail on the head. These people who are raising such a stink may well be racist and need to fucking grow up and stop acting goddamn crazy.