Friday, December 30, 2005

Another "shocking" Meme

beatrix
"Beatrix" by Dante Gabriel
Rossetti

You are a very loyal and devout
person. You have dedicated your soul to a
single cause and will never abandon it so long
as you draw breath. You are wise and venerable.
Graced with such honorable characteristics like
loyalty, courage, and honest people are
naturally drawn to you, because you are full of
all that is good. You are like a shining,
bright, white light in a room shrouded in
darkness.


Which beautiful pre-Raphaelite painting represents you? (9 beautiful photos)
brought to you by Quizilla

Sunday, December 25, 2005

So This is Christmas...

Merry Christmas to one and all. And if you're not of the kind to celebrate Christmas, well, Happy Holidays anyway. And Happy Hannukah too any practitioners of Judeaism in the house. Today...has been a good day. I was a little worried, truth be told. Jerod, Jenna, and I spent the night with my dad for the first time since he and my mom separated some nine years ago. Which is a delicate thing. My mom gets very ansy about these things. But we got up at the absolutely ungodly hour of Oh-Dark-Thirty(06:30 for the kids playing along at home). And had Christmas with my Dad and Barbara. And ate breakfast. Then drove back out to my mom's and was home here at around 10AM. Christmas. Breakfast. Then to my aunt's house for Christmas with my dad's side of the family. Lunch. Then swiftly back home and out to my step-aunt's for the usual awkward Christmas there. And more food. *is full. ugh.*

All-in-all, I came out pretty good. Christmas was a whole lot of fun this year. Transformers and Legos were the order of the day, and I, for one, couldn't be happier. I don't ever ask for anything practical for Christmas. Where's the fun in that? My parents and aunts and uncles and grandparents like to get toys for their children/nephews/grandchildren. They have more fun, I have more fun, it's fun all around. I got, of course, the obligatory clothes, but I asked for some, so it's ok. New jeans are always good. I also got a 1GB USB flash drive. Which is ever so cool and useful. I think that's the only practical thing on my list, as I can use it at work. With it, another 1GB SD card. So that's another 220 songs or so for Vector Prime. I got a very nice brown leather jacket, finally completing my Indian Jones look. Candy, of course. Coffee and chocolate covered coffee beans. TF Cybertron Starscream vs. Vector Prime(US version, not Supreme Starscream), Oil Slick vs. Crystal Widow(TF Universe), and TF Cybertron Runamuck. And Viking Legos. Let me reiterate. Viking. Legos. How awesome is that?! There was, also, the usual assortment of little puzzles and mind benders, movies and music. And a poster-sized '06 calender with a collection of Star Wars movie posters. And I've still got one Christmas left. All told, a good day. It would have been nicer if I could have seen a few more of my friends and loved ones, but I got to talk to a couple of those on the phone today. I hope you all have had as great a day as I have been blessed with today.

Merry Christmas.

o come thou dayspring

Thursday, December 22, 2005

Crap.

I'm doing that whole one post a week thing again, aren't I? Hmm.

Lots of stuff has gone down of late. I've seen a number of excellent movies. Crackhead Mike might be finally on his way to fired. And all of my holiday shopping is done. Whee!

The Chronicles of Narnia - Holy cow. Disney movie making at its best. Very close to the book. Even dark at points, but still very family friendly. Even kept all the Christ allegoricalness it's famous for.

King Kong - Ok, I was surprised. I wasn't all that hyped about the movie. Despite Peter Jackson being behind the wheel. Peter Jackson's King Kong, to me, was sounding like Joss Whedon's The Pride and the Prejudice. Great director, sure, but a great movie? Mr. Jackson, I apologize. Kong was emotive and sympathetic. All of the characters had a depth and realism to them. Even the "bad" guys had redeeming qualities, sympathetic qualities. A very moving film. And further proof that Peter Jackson is incapable of making a short movie.

So all of my holiday shopping is done. Which is weird. Because I don't usually have much of anything to do holiday shopping-wise. First year I've really done much at all. First year I've really had the money to do anything. It's kinda nice, actually. I just hope it all gets here in time. Most of it has. And there's still several days for it to come in yet. Whee.

it's the hap-happiest season of all

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Crafty

I feel crafty. By which I mean that I have crafted something. Gasp! Tonight I finally got around to, what amounted to, chopping up my old thigh-high round-toe renaissance boots. They had seen seven seasons of faire, and at least four other faire visits. They had been resoled. This season early in I noticed that the right boot was having issues. On the outside and inside on the rounding of the ball of my foot, the leather had split from the sole. No way was there enough leather left to resole them. Not to mention they still didn't have enough heel. So tonight I put my plan into action. I have, essentially, turned the thigh-high boots into a pair of thigh-high spats. I put them on over my combat boots. So far, it's turned out pretty good. I can use my spurs to hold them spats down for now, but tomorrow I plan to hit up the K- and Wal-Marts and scour for some really really cheap belts I can chop up and rivet onto the bottom for a more secure connection. I'm also going to look into some grommets so's maybe I can split the seam up a little on the back in the bottom for a little easier fitting on, then just lace it back down, tie it tight. Though I might just make another excuse for a buckling. Who knows! My finished project I will post a picture of here! Hopefully tomorrow!

rush

Saturday, December 10, 2005

Afoot.

Something is happening. Or rather, is on the verge of happening. The lull, the resting period, is coming to a close. It seems all the preparations, whatever they are, have been finished, though not consciously. Or if consciously done, not with the knowledge that they were, indeed, preparations. Certain things, important in my own life, but not to world at large, have cause changes in myself and my state of being that, though they do not change who, at my core, I am, they have, nonetheless, caused me to be a different man than I was. Or perhaps have made me truly into a man, where I had been, until recently, not.

I have begun to dream. How, dream? Does not every man dream? Perhaps, but dreaming is not something that I, under normal circumstance, do. Or at least not in a capacity that I remember such things. Moreover, these dreams, or at least one most recent, have become prophetic. How, prophetic? Is this not the normal case for such as I? Well, while it is true that often I will have dreams, usually of mundane things, simple, seemingly normal interactions or events, usually at a workplace or another, these are of a different brand of clairvoyance. Those dreams are, for one, many months, sometimes years in advance. Second, they are guideposts, not prophecies. Signs to search for, or, at least, recognize upon seeing. Ah, that is what that is. I am on the right path. No, the dream I have had, and this not two nights ago, was, in faith, prophetic. The last time I had a truly prophetic vision was in the spring of 2002. Struck, as it were, during my waking hours a week before Babylon's parting. Such things must be interpreted, of course, but the players were the same. And the actions, those being of myself placing my person between someone special to many of us and harm, also the same. A very strage blending of this world and the one I portay as Captain Julien Grey.

Still, something is coming. Perhaps this thing will have no greater influence than to directly affect my own life and those closest to me. Or, perhaps, this will be something that will hold great importance for many people. It does not smell like an omninous something, but at the same time, it lacks the perfume of the opposite. Something is coming, and there will be, I think, some growing pains, but only the pain associated with stiffness from inactivity. Nothing that the event will not stretch out and remedy, the result ending in a far better feeling than the comfort of sitting. For I, or we, or whomever, really, have been sitting far too long. Something new is coming. And it's going to be big in my life, I think. What it is, I have my hopes, my speculations, my fears. Only time will tell, I suppose.

I do know, however, that God is speaking to me again. Not that there was a time when He or I were not in communication. But Speaking to me in a more specific sense. His was the first dream. I need to start going back to church. A Catholic one, He tells me. Or at least, I need to attend to the duties and rituals of my Faith that I have been...letting slip. He tells me this, not because He is concerned for my lack of ritual, like a parent might get on a child to keep his room. No, this is more of a preparation for something. Honing the edge of a sword, you might say. Keeping me sharp. He prefers precision work from time to time. Seems this might be the case. I need to pick up my bible again.

I've also been pulled back to a series of books I started reading back in middle school. The author is Steven Brust. The books in question are The Phoenix Guards, Five Hundred Years After, The Paths of the Dead, and The Lord of Castle Black. In these books is a character, Khaavren, who is the base inspiration for Lord Captain Grey's character. Aside from being just an entertaining series of books, that is. In these pages, there is the building of the main character, the falling of an Empire and the struggle to meet the prophecies and portents that point to its resurrection into something far greater than before. Perhaps this is something symbolic? I need to get the last book, Sethra Lavode. If for no other reason than to finish out the series. I need and ending!

Anyway, I was starting into The Paths of the Dead after an awesome night at Plum Krazy's listening to Chris' band Also Known As with a large invasion of rennies when I was Told I should write what's on my mind here. So I have. Having so finished, I think I might just finish up the other half of the book, having started somewhere in the 3:30AM range, it now being 6:22, after attending to the, I'm assuming, feeding of my cat so that he will cease his plaintive mewling, allowing me to read in peace.

The Peace of the Lord be with you all
(What, am I writing a book for the New New Testament? God gives no reply. Oh well.)
Justin. Or perhaps Grey.
Outlaw Prophet of Greensboro.

for every season, turn, turn, turn

Monday, December 05, 2005

Computers, Computers, Everywhere

And not a game to play.

Okay, so that's not entirely true. But I am currently looking at the guts of about three computers, all told. Two working ones, one that does not. But enough extra bits all about to make up the parts of three whole computers. Whee.

That is all.

who-wha?

Friday, December 02, 2005

This is all Hugh's fault.

Ground rules: The first player of this "game" starts with the topic "Five of My Weird Habits" and the people who get tagged need to then write a LJ entry about their five quirky little habits as well as state the rules of this game clearly. In the end, you need to list the next five people who you want to tag.


Right. To it then.

1. I often insert movie soundtrack bits, usually Star Wars, into whatever I'm doing. Usually in my brain. Unless I'm feeling good. In which case I have been known to break out into full-on vocal renditions of the Death Star Trench Assault soundtrack.

2. When opening a door for a friend (which is often. Old School Southern manners.) I will bow and make a very foppish "EEeeeaaaaahhyeeaaaaaa doooooor, sah?" It's from an old old old SNL skit involving one of the guys from Kids in the Hall and another guy. Can't remember names. Or when I saw the skit. They were dressed as 18th century wussy-type fops. But it makes for comical juxtaposition.

3. I love to use the word juxtaposition. And many other large words. Usually because it annoys the heck out of my friends. Other than Hugh.

4. Grammar and spelling nazi. I blame Mrs. Herrington's AG classes.

5. One unintentional benefit of Attention Deficit Disorder. If something does not grab my interest, I have to really force myself to focus on it. However. If something does grab a hold of my interest, I am utterly tenacious in seeing it through. I read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in one sitting. It's also lead me to get up out of bed and assault the internet looking for obscure things from my childhood. Like any stray episodes of Spartikus and The Ancient Cities of Gold, shows I used to watch early, early in the mornings on Nickelodeon back in kindergarden.

Also posted in the LiveJournal. Since that's where it's...y'know...supposed to be. Heh.

i didn't do it. nobody saw me do it.

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Just Noticed.

I never seem to make any posts these days that aren't in the 1-2AM range. Weird.

Just checking in, saying hi, all that jazz. My world has become decidedly less exciting since Faire came to a close some weeks back. Y'know, I was going to write something long and probably whiny about how there are far far fewer women hanging about since the end of faire as well. But I'll just leave it at me missing all my friends from Faire, male and female.

Super Dimension Fortress: Macross. Wow. So I picked this up from Tony, supplier of fine second-hand computer bits. It's an awesome story. But the animation... It's kinda funny to see the same coloring errors I grew up with watching Transformers. See Main Character. See Main Character oddly recolored for reasons that escape reason. See Main Character back to his original colors in time to say something. But it's still a great story. Got me playing many many hours of Robotech: Battlecry again. Whee!

I think I'll get back to that anime.

viva el jameson!

Friday, November 25, 2005

Black Friday

Ah, the worst, I mean busiest retail day of the year. Only thanks to working in the Geek Squad it wasn't bad at all. Crowded was the worst part of it, and that's just because there were so many of us there physically in the Precinct. It got so slow after about noon, that I was sent home an hour early! On Black Friday! How awesome is that? Really damn, that's what it is.

I'm looking forward to Christmas. Thanksgiving showed me how much I can miss most of my family. It was really nice being able to hang out and just talk with cousins and aunts and uncles and siblings. My cousin Audrey's little girl is about 6 months old and HUGE. One of the most touching images of the day was "Granddaddy Ray" (Audrey's father, my uncle) bouncing little Allison on his knees. I don't think I've seen that man so absolutely happy in some time. Which is not to say he was unhappy, I'd dare to say otherwise.

Which got my brother and I talking. We're getting old. My other older cousin, and the oldest of us, is getting married next year. It's starting to happen. We're slowly becoming the last generation, not the next one. Parents are becoming grandparents. Grandparents, matriarchal great-grandmothers. I certainly wouldn't complain if I found someone to make a family with. And soon, really. Maybe not right away soon. Find that person, insert appropriate amount of time, marriage, appropriate amount of time, children. I would be pleased if my life folded out to such a way as to have my first son by 30. If not two children. I'd like that very much, actually. But that's me, I suppose. Others would, no doubt, caution me against "rushing" into such things.

At least my life is good for the most part. I have plenty of anime it consume as I might. I wish Skywarp were up and running, but that'll fix itself soon enough. Christmas is coming and this year I'll actually be able to afford to buy people gifts this year. Gasp!

all the way home i'll be warm

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Ah, Geekcraft.

So I've finally tossed and moved around all my files. I got a 160GB used hard drive off my buddy Tony (also the supplier of the Super Monitor). As such, I decided to use my 120GB secondary drive as the primary, as was my intention long, long ago. It took some time, though. Megatron's USB 2.0 slot got damaged in a tragic Bailey-Knocking-the-Laptop-Off-a-Table accident. So I was using USB 1.1 to transfer from the 120GB to the 40GB drive in Megatron to the 160GB drive using an external enclosure and switching the drives back and forth. Whee. Weren't that fun? Right now, though, I am attempting to install Windows on the 120 while using my laptop on the same desk. Mmm, Geekery.

so many fans...

Not Gonna Do It

I am not going to turn this into a once a week blog. I promise. I've just been reluctant to get too comfortable using Megatron all the time. Since I have this huge ass paperweight/desktop-space-taker-upper which used to be my PC until I get the RAM issue figured out. But that's an issue not likely to be solved anytime in the next few weeks. Although my next paycheck is going to be a little bigger than normal, thanks to personal hours added to fill the gap in hours PLUS my 38 hours this week PLUS the eight hours of holiday pay for Thanksgiving. Whee. But rent is due on that check. Oh well.

Work. Yeesh. I'm looking forward to the day when I'm a Double Agent and can get out of the tech bench. I love the work, but the people are starting to make me ill. I got spoken to today for not charging a guy up front. First time in something like two weeks that's happened. And it's not as though he's not going to pay for it when he gets in to pick it up. Meanwhile, there are people on the Geek Squad at our store, well, person really, who will use our work computer to download illegal software, music, movies, as well as check his email, and also print out stuff for personal use. Now. I am not above any of those things. However, I am above doing such on company time using company computers and paper. That's rudeness. This same fellow is personally responsible for at least on major screw up a day. Sometimes it's in relation to a customer's computer. Sometimes it's in relation to company policy. Either way, it's annoying enough just working with the guy. Cause he never shuts up and always tries to include himself into whatever conversation anyone is having. And always in a horribly self-depreciating way. Not in the funny Rodney Dangerfield kinda way. In the annoying "Oh yeah, well I've had it worse because..." and "I'm a retard, hur." Yeah. And he smells like cheap cigarettes and unwashed breathe. All the time.

Black Friday. Not looking forward to that. I am lucky, though. I'm working 11-7:30. A much safer shift. The 7 hour sale ends at noon. And most of the people and the product will most likely have disappeared at that point anyway.

to destroy the evil forces of the decepticons

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Tomorrow, Tomorrow

Not a whole lot to report. This weekend looks to be...comfortable. The first in some time, actually. I get paid. Not only that, but I sold some things on eBay for more than I thought I would. And those funds should transfer right around the same time as my paycheck hits my bank account. How awesome is that? Today at work was...I dunno. Seemed off. But tomorrow, it seems. that I get to represent the Geek Squad at the Chamber of Commerce. I wouldn't have had this opportunity if it weren't for switching my schedule with Juan. Instead of working 7-3:30, I'm working 4-10:30. Sleep in. Yosh!(Japanese for "Alright!")

I did far, far too much laundry last night. Four loads. That's twice my usual run. But then, I got that extra money I forgot about. Helped finance the laundry. Still have one more load to do, but it's not an urgent thing. Thank goodness. Have I mentioned I hate doing laundry?

I'm already planning changes for Captain Grey's costume for next year. Or at least additions. My boots, which have served through seven years of festivals have finally reached the end of their road. Having been resoled two years ago, the leather has split along the sides of the right food far too high to be resoled again. I still love the look of the boots, though. I might see if I can cut them up and turn them into spats. Not too hard to do, really. And they're tossed anyway, so it won't matter if they don't work. What I'd really love is a pair of boots almost exactly like what I have now, only with a much more pronounced heel and arch. Only in brown. Why brown? Well, it's quite simple, really. Brown leather is far more rare. Everyone and their uncle has a pair of black boots from renboots.com or scaboots.com. And even baring those, there are far more pairs of black boots than brown. And no brown boots that have an over the knee cuff. But oh well. However, Kae is being wonderful and amazing. She's designing and making a new doublet for me. The old one? A great and beautiful doublet it is. Just...too big. When it was measured for, I was much wider about the middle than I am now. Heck, by the time I got it, it was a little large. So I keep it. It works really well for if I want to pull off a more well dressed rogue-ish type. Someone likely to be hanging around Captain Christian more than, say, Lord Eric. Which Grey has, in the annals of feigned story for our own amusement, set to sail with the good captain Christian once or twice. Might be the kind of thing he'd wear whilst setting against the merchants of France and Spain. But we shall see.

Talking on the phone for an hour and a half until 1:30AM or so. But it'd never work out. No, surely not.

The computer. It is broken yet again. And only I can fix it. Right.

can't live with 'em. can't shoot 'em

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Aftermath

Well, perhaps too dark a word for the meaning I intend, but I do like my drama. The Carolina Renaissance festival has, indeed, come to a close. The last weekend was (unseasonably) fair and bright. A little too warm for my tastes, but what can you do? The cast-party was as awesome as always. And there was Guiness! Guiness on tap! For free! After salivating over it for an entire season, there it was in my hand. A nice cool glass of Guiness straight from the tap. Yum. And of course, the free food. But it was the talent show that made the event, as it does every year. Lots of really fun stuff. I'll miss the faire, as I do every year. I wish I would have had every weekend this year, but it was not to be, I suppose. Next year will be different. We'll have to see. I got paid for the run this weekend, too. That was cool. I forgot about that completely, so when the bossman comes around handing out checks, I was like "Sweet!" And it was awesome. Oh! And our new entertainment director is officially the entertainment director. His name is Rob and all of us are glad he's on board. Good guy.

On a sadder note, The faire season saw something wonderful come into bloom and fade into the autumn wind. Started with the premiere of Serenity and the opening weekend, and ended late last night. It is something I will always cherish and I will miss it.

To the one I will miss: I love you. Now and always. We have parted as lovers, but will always be dearest companions and friends. Remember that.

that's right, a shakespeare reference in the blues

Monday, November 07, 2005

Gotta Write More Often

I didn't get Double Agent. This time. But this is legitmate. When my (former) supervisor applies for the Double Agent position, there's little I can do. He was far, far more qualified. But he's merely the third of a proposed 6 DA's. And there's another one opening up in December. So I've put my foot in the door, management is looking at me. I've just got to continue to rock it hard.

Speaking of rocking hard, I've won like 5 movies at work as part of a Geek Squad contest. And today? Today I won a video game. Soul Calibur III. Score.

Also, do you hear that? Listen closely now...

...go on...

...just a little longer...

What is that sound you hear? It's the sound of my phone not ringing. It's the sound of having no obligations to fix anybody's anything! The biggest items on my to-do list tonight are to eat some homemade spaghetti and meat sauce and to get my ass handed to me by the CPU opponents in Soul Calibur III. Whee!

Also, is it Friday yet?

and if the train's on time you'll get to work by nine

Monday, October 31, 2005

Playing Catch Up

A most uneventful Halloween was had by us here tonight, but that's really for the best. For some reason, the faire really took the wind out of our sails yesterday. Saturday was awesome, though. I think it might have been the time difference combined with a significantly warmer day Sunday.

The world of Mobile Suit Gundam has been occupying most of my time these last few weeks. I've been downloading every scrap of it I can. I plowed my way through Mobile Suit Gundam (aka Gundam 0079), all 42 episodes, over the course of about 4 days. It's the beast that spawned years of anime. It's also a very well written show. Politics, war, love. It paints a sympathetic picture of both sides. It also shows the villains that are found on both sides. This is one of the things I've always loved about the Gundam series. Both sides can be hated and sympathized with at the same time. Plus all the really awesome mechas running about. Gundam 08th MS team, Gundam 0080 and Gundam 0083 I had seen before. I had caught many episodes of Mobile Suit Gundam, but never anything that amounted to a majority of them. MSG (ha!) has an awesome soundtrack, at least during the episodes. The main battle music, very full of brass and strings, makes it impossible to not bob your head in time. The original opening theme is...well, horrible and cheesy, but appropriate for the time. The animation is good, though. I just started Zeta Gundam. It's set some 7 or 8 years after the One Year War (Mobile Suit Gundam, Gundam 08th MS Team). Many of the main characters from MSg are drawn back into the political struggle. The animation is amazing, and the music, especially the opening sequence, is epic and grand. just amazing. I'm on 35 of 50 episodes, having started this past Thursday. Bear in mind I was nowhere near my computer for two days straight.

We were finally able to hit the grocery store today. Which is exciting because Chris and I love to cook. So we're shopping and "You know what would be good? This and that together." "Yeah! And we have some of that, so let's get plenty of this!" "Score!" So we do. We don't bargain hunt for groceries, most of the time, but we do pay attention. x might be on sale, but we like y better, so we get y. Tonight Chris made some Guiness beer cheese soup with some Guiness cooked thick sliced bacon chunks in it. Yum! And using a little butter in the bacon grease, I fried me up some grilled cheese sandwiches to go along with it. Yum-yum. I plan to die of congestive heart failure in about three months. I'm well on my way, I think.

In sadder news, I have only one weekend of faire left. I always hate getting up so early to go, but I always love doing it. And I'll like having money again. It's not cheap for all of us to do faire as we do. Gas is expensive, especially for my car. Hotels aren't free. And we'd rather be broke and at the hotel than have a little cash and have to camp. Ick. So maybe we aren't "real rennies" for that. But we like air conditioning and hot tubs and pools and hot showers and soft beds and free breakfast. The last weekend is shaping up to be something very special, even moreso than usual, at least. I look forward to it.

ego te amo, Kae

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Geek Squad Gunslinger

So Geek Squad has two kinds of Agents(employees). There are the Counter Intelligence Agents, that do the in store work, like what I do. We're the best paid employees in the store outside of salaried managers, but we're still susceptible to the retail availibility requirements of working weekends. The Double Agents get to use the Geek Squad cars(which they hang on to), they get a nifty badge, get to
set their availability as best suits them, and make money more like a Geek Squad Supervisor. Or better. Because of their mad kung fu skillz. Also, the Double Agents don't report in to the infrastructure the same way normal employees do. They're responsible to the salaried managers and the district managers, but are pretty much given free reign, so long as the work gets done.

The computer area manager came up to me at the end of my shift today saying he needed to talk to me. He told me there was going to be an opening for a new Double Agent. He wanted to know if I wanted the job. He said "Your computer knowledge is top-notch. We're going to be opening up a new Double Agent position, and it looks like you're it." Glee!

hey tycho. yoink.

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Jack Thompson, Total Douche. The Sequel.

So there's this webcomic. It's been around for many years. Turn of the century origins. In it's essence, it's just two guys who like video games and have an appealing sense of art and humor. Video games and gaming in general is their passion. And many of us in this world envy them because they make their livings making comics about gaming. And they seem to be doing right well at it. They are Penny Arcade. But in the last few years, they have been thrust to the fore of the gaming community. They have true power. They have their own convention up in Seattle. A webcomic. Hosting it's own convention. And it's a huge convention. Not only that, but they also use their power for the forces of good, organizing Child's Play, a nation-wide charity that takes donations of video games, toys, books, and money and donates them to children's hospitals around the nation for Christmas.

And now they're poised to take on politics.

As mentioned in my last entry, Jack Thompson, Douche at Law, has created his own version of Jonathon Swift's A Modest Proposal. Well, it seems someone made a mod for GTA III along those lines. Mr. Thompson flipped and said it was only satire, including his promise to donate $10,000 to Paul Eibeler's favorite charity, should said game be made. We, the gamers of this nation, called his bluff. But that's not the end of it, no. Penny Arcade did him one better. They actually donated the full $10,000 to the Entertainment Software Association Foundtaion. In his name. Eat it. Go here to see the third piece of the Thompson v. PA saga. Mr. Thompson, as seen in the news post I just linked to, attempted to involve the Seattle Police Department. That some one this completely off his rocker is respected by anyone is completely beyond me.

On a personal note, Jack Thompson wrote an email to the LiveJournal Game Politics, stating "You all seem rather bothered and worried about a nonentity. God is in this battle, and I am privileged to be a foot soldier. You all should be concerned, not about me, but about Him." Now, as a Christian, I am offended. There is no God in his actions. If he was working for God in this, he would be a lot more coherent, more serene. Instead he is incoherent, I'd say even bratty. This is not a man of God, ladies and gentlemen. This is an utter psychopath, spittle and everything.

long live the fighters!

Friday, October 14, 2005

Jack Thompson, Total Douche.

So there's this man in Florida. This man is an anti-gaming lawyer. He is paranoid and extreme. His personal beliefs seem to be that all gamers are time-bombs waiting to go off and kill lots of innocent people. Anytime any kid kills a bunch of kids, his reaction is "sue video games" not "where were the parents." He's gotten so bad, that even the National Institute on Media and the Family has said "Whoa there, ease up, hoss." Some of you have, by now, heard of his proposal for a video game. If you don't want to take the time to read it, here's the gist. A father takes revenge on anyone and everyone even loosely associated with video games after his child is killed by a kid who went crazy after playing a violent video game. He trakes down Paula Eibel(Paul Eibler) of Take This(Take Two/Rockstar) games and kills her. And everyone in the building. Then makes a mad mad killing spree across the nation going into and killing people in Best Buy's, Circuit City, EB Games, etc. All in a mad dash to make it E3 where he can kill everyone there. In exchange for this, he will give $10,000 to a charity.

Boy, he's a reasonable one, isn't he.

It seems that Gabe of Penny Arcade wrote him a letter detailing how paltry a sum that is compared to Child's Play, which he and his partner Tycho, were key in organizing. Child's Play has, in two years, collected more than $500,000 for children's hospitals. And these are amateurs. Not corporate nods, just a bunch of middle class gamers giving.

It seems Mr. Thompson didn't take that too well. Twice.

All I have to say is go for the jugular, Penny Arcade. We the gamers of this world are behind you.

where is my mind

Thursday, October 06, 2005

What a day.

So my raise finally kicked in. Went from just a little more than $8/hr to just over $10. Oorah! And I had a pleasantly short day. Even though I went in at 7, those first three hours were superbilicious. Got a part of my Geek Squad uniform, the rest is on order. Saw Serenity again. I'll need to see it this weekend, though. Just to be safe. Also, if anyone is interested, I'm selling off the old bits of Skywarp what are still good. Pretty cheap considering what you get in the bundle. And I won't get to appreciate my raise for another two weeks. Pity the poor me. Seriously.

pour me, pour me, pour me

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Captain Grey, '05, Part Deux


Man. I am hot.

i'm too sexy for my...armor?

Captain Grey, '05


Captain Grey has an alternative outfit this year! Hooray for lots of metal! Don't know as I'll wear it every day, though. If it's over 70 degrees outside, it's hot enough in the regular stuff. Metal breathes a whole lot less than layers of cloth, I tell ya what. But I think I look right smashing in the new stuff, don't you?

hush hush, eye to eye

Can't Stop the Signal

Wow. A lot to report. Skywarp is back online and better than ever, save for the need to reload all my software. But oh well. I'm just happy everything is working like it should. Or better.

Serenity. Oh. My. God. What a movie. One of the best movies of all time. But I'm biased.

Katherine. Oh. My. God.

Work is starting to lose the novelty, but that's ok, because right as the novelty wears off, my pay increase kicks in. It's a fair trade.

CRF opening weekend. Too damn hot, but otherwise fantastic. It was a little disappointing at the hotel, given the light crowd. But in other ways, this past Saturday night was the best of my whole life. And the best part about the CRF 2005 season? Guards don't carry any bodies off the field! Holy crap!

I might write up a more coherent entry later. Like when my computer isn't screaming at me to restart.

back in the saddle again

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

The Passing of an Old Friend

Or, rather, part of an old friend. Skywarp's Mach Speed 694TAS motherboard passed away some time over the weekend. I was not there to witness it's passing, but when I got home Sunday evening I saw that my computer had shut down. I did the usual tests, just to make sure (including a really nifty test borrowing the power supply and motherboard testers from the Geek Squad!), but it was the motherboard. Which is terribly convenient for me. I didn't want to have to take apart the power supply to get at my fans. Because of the age of the internal components, however, I was left in a quandry. It would have cost a significant amount to get a similarly performing motherboard. Apparently Mach Speed made the best performing one out there. And none of the ones I found were cheap at all. So for just a little more money I can upgrade the motherboard, get a better processor and faster RAM. Here is what Skywarp will look like when he is up and running again:

AMD Sempron 64 2800+
2GB PC3200 DDR RAM
20GB HDD
120GB HDD
Floppy
6-in-1 Media Reader
16x DVD-ROM
12x DVD+/-RW

And since John's Aunt is looking for a new computer, and has come to me for it, I might can afford to do that very, very soon. I can't wait!

i know, i know, i know, i want you, want you

Monday, September 19, 2005

Gyar, aye matey!

National Talk Loik a Poirate Day! Yar!

The new monitor is still kicking ass.

As requested(read: hounded), a poem for Michelle:
"an ode to Michelle
silly short haiku poem
obligation done"

Thank you, thank you. No applause, just throw money. So my next paycheck, the one with nearly overtime, holiday pay and time and a half for my full day working Labor Day, will see the beginning of my Employee Stock Purchase plan. I am excited, especially given how strong Best Buy's stock seems to be. I'm also almost done with the training phase of Geek Squad. This week or next and then I'll be seeing the pay increase. Hooray for a higher pay scale! Don't get me wrong, the wage I was making on the floor in Car Fi was liveable for me. Single, little obligation, two roommates. But it wasn't what one would call "rolling" money. And I liked working over in Car Fi. There was responsibility, and I had more than most of the people in the department (aside from the Supervisor and the Senior) because Jimmy, the sup, knew he could trust me with it, and did, but not nearly the pressure that exists in, say, Computers. The Computer department is responsible for a much larger chunk of our daily budget than Car Fi. About ten times as much of the budget as Car Fi. And I get to listen to music all day. But eight hours working on computers is so much better for me and on me than six and half seling car stereos. Geek squad is where I wanted to be, and that's where they've got me. And a lot sooner than I thought I'd be there. And! I now have three Geek Squad t-shirts to wear until I "get" my Geek Squad uniforms. How awesome is that?

Man, I haven't made a real post in a long time, have I?

Have I mentioned I really like my job?

Another geek issue for you guys. Windows Vista. It used to be Longhorn, but the personal use version got renamed, whereas Longhorn is for servers. I got a hold of a copy of Vista Beta 1. And I have to say it's a very pretty system. A little faster than XP was on my laptop, which is somewhat surpising given that Megatron doesn't have but 512MB of RAM. I think Vista would actually look better on Skywarp, but there's some compatibility issues there I'm sure. The only things I don't like right off the bat, other than not working with the latest version of AIM, are the lack of a Disk Cleanup utility and the fact that it takes up SO MUCH SPACE. I'm sure there are files there I could delete if I wanted to, but I don't know what they are. I fear the "bloat" will only get worse in the final version. I might need to see about format Megatron and doing a fresh install. Might cut down on the size a bit, but I'm not holding my breath. Maybe I should do that. Hmm.

I bet my laundry is done. Bleh. I hate doing laundry.

how I wish, how I wish you were here

Friday, September 16, 2005

Forgot the Title the First Time Around

Yar, indeed, me mateys. Every day is a good day for me in the Geek Squad. At least so far, anyway. And I'll take that. My fellow agent, Tony, seems to have a 19" Sony Trinitron monitor he does not want. So he's going to sell it to me for $45. Sony. Monitor. LCD. Holy cow. Score!

Also, I'm selling an old doublet on eBay for anyone that's interested in it. Good condition. Used only very little and lovingly at that. Included in the auction is a beret I got some time ago. It has seen very little use, as I soon after got my first of three cavalier hats (felt, cheap leather, real deal leather.)

Speaking of costuming! Chris' wife, Lani, is doing me a wonderful favor in making me a red cape to go along with the new outfit Lord Captain Grey is wearing. Breastplate, metal bracers, red cape. I will look very captainy indeed. I am even having a pair of significantly snug pants made. I will be fabulous. In that completely heterosexual way. Seriously.

fabulous is as fabulous does

Oh. My. God.

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Holy cow. There are no words to describe how unbelievably awesome that movie is.

sephiroth!

Thursday, September 15, 2005

It Doesn't Mean That I'm Weird

So for the past couple of nights I've been having some weird dreams. Which I suppose is really just "regular" dreams, but given how often I don't dream, it's weird for me. And on top of the real dreams is a lot of half-dreams where my mind is stuck in the world of Xenosaga. Which is an awesome game. Of course, it would help if my cat would stop thinking that 7:30 is an excellent time for me to get up. Even though I don't have to be up and at anywhere at all. At least until today, when I have to be in at work at 2:45. Yeah. Definitely need to be up at 7:30 for that. Especially after staying up until 3:30 playing Xenosaga because I didn't have to be up until 12:00-1:00 the next day because I don't have to be in at work until 2:45. Damn cat. Good thing he's cute. Otherwise he'd be one dead kitty. But for now there is lunch and then work. Hooray.

gotta have my pops

Monday, September 12, 2005

Robot Roll Call

Because I did some thinking and reworking. Vector Prime is too cool to be relegated to just a PDA. So, revisionist history being what it is, the PDA is now named Nemesis Prime. There will be a toy forth coming just as soon as I can get one. And the "new" machine I build will be Vector Prime. His parts will be a little older, but he will be powerful enough just the same. Silver/white with red lighting and a prominent Autobot symbol on the window panel. It will have to be a Dragon case like Skywarp. But, here's the rollcall so far:

Skywarp: PC Primus
1.2 GHz Celeron Tualatin (OC 1.32)
1.5 GB PC133 RAM
256 MB GeForceFX 5500
20 GB HDD
120 GB HDD
16X DVD-ROM
12X DVD+/-RW

Vector Prime: PC Secondus
(In planning stages)

Megatron: PC Mobila
2.0 GHz Pentium IV
512 MB PC2100 SODIMM RAM
40 GB HDD
DVD/CD-RW

Nemesis Prime: PC Micros
Palm Tungsten E
32 MB Internal Storage
1 GB SD Card

Galvatron: PS2

Soundwave: Cellular Phone

Starscream: CD Player

Ravage: GBA SP

geek work's made for a geek. like you.

Sunday, September 11, 2005

Don't Stop Me Now

Wow. That was the best day of work, ever. For any job I've had. Eight hours of installs and tweaks and customisations and defrags and anti-virus and anti-spyware. It was awesome. Finally, someone is paying me a living to do what I love to do the most. I feel like I've come home, so to speak. I'm there five minutes and we're having in depth discussions of anime while running anti-virus programs and complaining about the junk people allow on their computers. It's awesome.

My PS2 is finally seeing some real use. I'd just been using it as a DVD player for the longest time, lacking games. And I hadn't looked into getting any games because most of the ones I want are old and hard to find. But. I went to get my hair cut (the long on in the front near the part) and there's an EB Games in the same shopping center. So I was just browsing the clearance bin. And lo and behold there was a copy of Robotech: Battlecry for $6.99. I had heard mixed reviews, but for $7, I figured it was worth a shot. And I find it enjoyable enough, certainly worth the investment. But I love a good shooter, even if I'm not terribly good at many of them. And the fact that it's a Robotech shooter makes it all the better. Sitting very close by was a copy of a cheese fest zombie action game of epic proportions. Evil Dead: A Fistfull of Boomstick! With voice acting by Bruce Campbell! Shweet! And it plays exactly like I thought it would. A few simple puzzles, lots of zombie slaying, and Bruce Campbell cutdowns. $10 well spent. The other things I got were the PS2 remote and IR sensor (I can't use the new one since the slim PS2 has IR built in and all the remotes out now are made for that. Rah.) and Xenosaga. I haven't started Xenosaga yet, but I'm waiting until I have most of a day to get into it. Xenogears was the best game for the PSX, and Chrono Trigger the best game for the SNES before it. Xenosaga being part of the Xenogears universe, I have high hopes for it.

Later that very same day I had lunch with an amazing young woman. I have some hopes there, as well. I will remain silent on any other details, lest I jinx it. But things look pretty good. All told? Awesome weekend.

blue-eyed boy meets a brown-eyed girl

Thursday, September 08, 2005

It were a good day, English

So today. Today was a good day. For meany reasons that I shall now bring to your attention. The first reason today was a good day was because yesterday ended as well as it did. Something I was nervous about I have a little less reason to be nervous about, but said progression brings on new reasons for nervousness, but that's a good thing. And intentionally vague. Part 2: I finally finished The Dark Tower. Wow. An ending even I did not foresee. Though it was poetic. Fitting, really. Thirdly, as of this upcoming Sunday I am going to be moved to another department in the store. The Tech Bench. Better known to the non-employee as...Geek Squad! Yes, they have moved me over to Geek Squad, and with alarming alacrity and lack of forewarning. I was completely unaware that they had even looked at moving me over there. AFter a two or three weeks of training, I get my uniform, badge and, most importantly, financial recompense, since Geek Squad operates on a different pay scale. Huzzah! Reason the penultimate, aka, reason number four, is that Vector Prime came in the mail today. I saw the pictures of this toy and immediately had to have it. I was, however, disappointed by the American translation of the paint scheme. Left a lot of detailing out, the materials were a little cheaper, from what I could see. If you have the option, get the Takara version of a Transformer. But looking at the robot mode, he struck me as looking very much like a Paladin, the White Knight of the Transformers world. I could see myself as looking like that as a Transformer. And I can do that because I am a geek. Lastly, it seems that I may be getting one of Chris' friends old tower to salvage at my leisure. And that always makes me a happy camper.

totally addicted to bass

Monday, September 05, 2005

It's a whole family!

So I have adopted a new member into my family of Transformers named electronics. I have a PalmOne Tungsten E PDA. With a 1GB SD card in the expansion slot. His name is Nemesis Prime. There's even a color theme that matches the character on PalmOS. It's a pretty nifty toy, I've found. The mp3 player is pretty high quality stuff. I've currently got about 170 mp3s on the card, and the player itself has an LCARS(Star Trek TNG and up interface module thing) skin. So I'm geeking out hardcore. And so thus have I started tooling around eBay in search of cheap 1GB SD cards so I can add more songs to my portable repetoire. And I've got a card reader on the way so I don't have to use Chris'. Though I might get my own laptop card reader like Chris has eventually. One for Skywarp is the big issue, but one for Megatron might be useful. Also! Chris' friend Heidi has allowed me salvage rights to her old computer that went crappo on her, so I'll have more toys to mess with! Huzzah! I love salvaging crapped out computers and objects. Like my PS2. And both my current computers. And this PDA. Huzzah!

this is the noise that keeps me awake

Friday, September 02, 2005

Fireflies and Laptop

So it's Friday, I'm on day one of my three day weekend, and I'm sitting on the couch watching me some Firefly right now. It's been a while since Megatron here left his bookshelf post next to my TV in my room. So I brought him out here so's I could watch some of the TV. Have I mentioned how much I love Sci-Fi Friday? Heh. And Chris is right across the room from me. It's just like 19C. Only bigger. And cleaner. And more awesomer.

And speaking of apartments, our AC got fixed today! The compressor and more went crapp-o on us a couple of days ago, so we had two days of no AC. But they fixed it this morning, so yay cold air!

my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle

This is For Real

http://www.livejournal.com/users/interdictor/

This guy works for DirectNIC. They do webhosting for an assload of sites, including Something Awful. He's been giving using his blog as an archive of his epxerience in New Orleans since Katrina hit. It's awe-inspiring. Hell it's movie inspiring. Grim survivalist fare liken to Escape from New York or 28 Days. I would like to hope that in a similar situation, I would act much the same. I thank God I am relatively safe from such things, but heed, children, for what happened, the breakdown of civilization in its entirety, is possible elsewhere. Let this serve as warning. People are stupid. And never understimate the power of stupid people in large numbers. Ever.

a mighty fortress is our God

phrase t-shirts are stupid

But profitable, it seems. I have taken my particular brand of irony and satire and have made it available to you, John Q. Public. Or John W. Rummage, if you prefer. You will visit, you will buy, you will make fun of others! Huzzah! I know some people don't like cafepress, some for perfectly understandable reasons. But I figure it doesn't cost me a thing to use it. Gives me a chance to create something I might not have been able to otherwise. So there.

but you don't care for music much, do you

Sunday, August 28, 2005

I've Got a New Hat

eBay. Ever my friend. Ever my mortal foe. Skywarp is humming pleasantly along with twice the RAM he had before. From 768 to 1536. Mmm, 1.5 GB of RAM on a 1.32 (overclocked from 1.2) GHz Celeron Tualatin. Maxed out my motherboard. But there's a noticable difference, and I haven't even played FFXI with it yet. Just noticed the normal processes speeding up.

Point the second. My computer is probably one of the most secure personal computers ever. On top of Zone Alarm Pro, the router's firewall, XP's firewall, and Spybot S&D, I now have Norton Internet Security 2005 Anti-Spyware Edition. Hurray for the fringe benefits of my job! Free Norton!

And to finally be on topic with my headline, I found the most coolest cap ever. A Decepticon cap. Black. Purple outline Decepticon symbol on the front, purple trim along the bill with a full icon in the left-hand corner of the bill. Very cool. At least to me.

turning saints into the sea

Friday, August 26, 2005

I Blame My Habit

So many hours of my life I can never get back. All thanks to this ridiculously addictive little game I feel the need to pay monthly to play. Ah, Final Fantasy XI. I really did enjoy this game the first time around as Grimm. Though I didn't play very smart, then. It was hard enough to find a decent party for leveling, and I didn't get into making enough money to afford surviving long enough to enjoy the levels I was reaching. I prefer to go solo, then party as needed for tougher stuff. But this time around, Iustis, level 11 Warrior on the Siren server (in the event anyone cares to stalk me online), has taken to logging. It is lucrative and awards me many levels as I must fight off a bunch of orcs in my usual tree-chopping spot. Haven't really leapt forward in the plot as I did last time, though, which is fine for me. I know most of what's ahead of me for a while anyway, having played long, long ago. Still not sure where I'm going to take Iustis, though. With Grimm, I wanted a Dark Knight, which is a quest in and of itself. Simplest explanation: At level 30, I can go off and get specialer classes, such as the Dark Knight class. Then I get to start over at level 1 all over again. But, I can also go on a quest to get a subclass so that my 30+ levels of whatever don't go to waste. The subclass is at half your current main job level. So that a level 60 Dark Knight can have 30 levels of Warrior skills backing it up. Rah. That's a lot of damage doing. I might try for Paladinhood. Or I might Go Dark Knight, then Paladin making for a massively massive screwball of a class. I like that idea. I'll start on it right now.

Also, I saw most of Eurotrip tonight messing around on Heather and Susannah's computers. Again. I will miss that hour and a half. I mourn the waste of the time I could have spent not watching a movie produced by MTV studios.

scotty doesn't know

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Compulsive Geekery

So I had a plan. This plan involved taking the old guts from Skywarp (once he is upgraded) and placing them in a second computer (tentatively Nemesis Prime.) I would also replace the current blue lighted fans with the purple, once I got the upgrade parts. But then I saw a steal on eBay for 8 purple LED fans. An a $15 purple neon tube for $3. So Skywarp is all black and purple like he should be. I have also procured the first of four parts needed for an upgrade. This being the motherboard. I found an AMD Athlon 64 capable motherboard in black with purple slots. And it's a Soyo board, so you know it's good. Soon, precious, very soon. But speaking of named products, let's give a roll-call, shall we?

Skywarp - Desktop PC
1.2 GHz Celeron
768 MB RAM
20GB HDD
120GB HDD

Megatron - Laptop PC
2.0 GHz Pentium 4
512 MB RAM
40GB HDD

Galvatron - PS2

Starscream - CD Player

Noticing a trend?

well there's a reason for the things I have on

Sunday, August 14, 2005

The Time of Upgrade

Well, my wireless carddecided it wanted to poop out on me. I was not impressed. So my plan was to purchace a USB Wireless adapter as I clocked out, right then and there, badabing badaboom. Nope, no such luck. I left my card in my shorts pocket from last night. Which was a mostly pleasant evening at the ol' Plum Krazy's. So I came home and changed and went back. Sure, I could have just used the laptop for internet usage, but when you're downloading seasons of cartoons like the Transformers, you need Skywarps storage space. And when you want to play FFXI, you need the computer it's installed on. And to heck with the PCI card. The USB adapters gets a better connection anyway. Maybe when I build Nemesis Prime from Skywarp's old components, I reuse the wireless PCI card. Not long until I do that.

In other news, I got a massive spam comment in my last post. It's huge! Everyone should say bad things about blogger user tybx96xpno.

for great justice!

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

Spam, a long time coming

As you may have seen earlier today, my previous post was host to four spam comments. This is a first for the Tome of Grey. It sucks, but in another light, it's kinda cool. It means my sight gets enough traffic to be worthwhile for someone's spam. I wish I could edit comments, but instead I can only delete them. *Sigh* Now I have to moderate my comments as though it was some forum. Before long mouth-breathers and knuckle-draggers will be having flame wars. It's the end!

it's the end of the world as we know it

Monday, August 08, 2005

SE7EN

Isn't that how the title of the movie was spelled? Ah, seven. A complete number. Holy, even, in many cultures. And that, my friends, is how many blue 4 LED fans I have in my computer now. Two days a go I ordered a part from an online store based in, get this, California. Now, in order to save on shipping, and because I was in no hurry for the part, I had it shipped USPS Super Saver. Wait time of, supposedly, 10-15 days. Got here before I got home today. TODAY! What was this mystery part? It was an adapter that allowed me to connect an 80mm fan to my processor, where normally a 60mm fan would sit. So then.

2 80mm blue 4 LED case fans in the back of the case.
2 80mm blue 4 LED case fans in the front of the case.
2 80mm blue 4 LED case fans in the power supply (which, as previously mentioned, I had to modifiy to get them in there. Bwahaha.)
1 80 mm blue 4 LED case fan where my CPU fans should be.

ph34r m3 m4d sk!llz, j0

Friday, August 05, 2005

My Reign is Secured

Once again, I have worked my technomagery! First, I did procure a powered screwdriver. I had wanted one for some time, but this time I had a need! It was for the Second Task which became, incidentally, the Third Task. For the Second became the attainment of a flourescent bulb! Why, you may ask, did I get a flourescent lightbulb? Because my room becomes far, far too warm with a regular incandescent bulb. Three cheers for cool light sources. The Third Task set before me this evening was replacing the fans in my power supply. Not because I had to, but because the fans in there were plain and, they being 80mm, could be replaced by a pair of 4 LED case fans! So I did! But I needed the power screwdriver, as my hand alone could not produce the torque needed to unscrew the top of the PSU (power supply unit). Them sumbitches was on tiiiight. So now my computer is chock as full as I can make it with blue LED fans. 6 of them fellas. The Fourth Task of Geekery was healing, then killing, then fully resurrecting an older model PS2. The laser, it seems, was out of alignment. So I realigned it. Then, since it was half disassembled anyway, I finished the break down. Not too much was learned, but I was able to clean it out a bit, at least. But, being ADD, I didn't pay attention as closely as I should so I crossed some wires in the reassemble. But only on the on/off switch. So quick switch back and I have a fully operational PS2 for $20. Huzzah.

you do that voodoo that you do so well

Wednesday, August 03, 2005

Look, ma, I'm on the teevee!

Ok, so TNT (easily the third best TV channel on the air right now behind number two Sci-Fi and Cartoon Network at number one*) has this new show, Wanted. The premise is an EZ company of guys from the LAPD, ATF, FBI, DEA, and Naval Intelligence are all put together for the purpose of catching LA's 100 most wanted criminals. There's a surprising range of character archetypes. There's the typical Scoundrel, the Underestimated Girl in the Boys' Club, the Tough Bald Guy, the Grizzled Captain, the "Edgy" Noncomformist/Tech Geek. These are things you can find in a lot of hackneyed crappy action movies. The thing that sets it apart is the ATF guy. He's big, tough, angry and Christian, but without the preachiness. Seems to be very personal with his faith. On top of all of that, he's a virgin. A virgin! When was the last time you saw a virgin on tv? Crappy family sit-com on Friday night? That whiny, nerdy, weakling virgin on the primetime teen/young adult drama-comedy cookie cutter clone? Yeah. This one's badass. I made it on TV!

Don't ask me why I didn't post this Sunday night. When it was on. I just now thought of it.

Also, the grenadine in the hookah with the cherry molasses tobacco was muy excellente

*Sci-Fi being second only because it's got one night of superb programming, Friday, which is the only night when Cartoon Network lacks good programs. Otherwise it'd be a tie.

soy el grande hombre

Sunday, July 31, 2005

More yummy food.

Curse you food network, making me want to cook again. So I cooked again. Marinated some chicken breasts in raspberry walnut vinaigrette dressing, garlic, and some white zinfandel. For a day. Served it over some macaroni shells with just a smidgen of olive oil, garlic, basil, oregano, and parmesan cheese lightly coating the pasta. Served with chilled white zin. Made for a very fine meal, I must say.

We're going to try some grenadine in our hookah tonight with cherry molasses tobacco. I'll let you guys know how it turns out.

Saturday, July 30, 2005

It's 3AM; I must be lonely.

Actually, not really. It's 03:12(as I start this post) and I'm not feeling particularly lonesome. What an interesting day. I was pointed to something online for BestBuy employees that lets us take tests and get free stuff! Thus far I have a copy of Norton Internet Security 2005 Spyware Edition coming my way, as well as a free copy of Linspire (Linux based OS). Not sure what I'm going to do with Linspire yet. If I ever get to upgrading Skywarp (the desktop) I might make a third (yes third) computer for my room. Or maybe as a communal computer for the living/dining area. Who knows. I'm thinking it might be a white case with red lights, call it Ratchet. Hmm.

Anyway, I did a few errands today, walked about BestBuy's computer department wishing I had a lot of money to spend on computer stuff. Which reminds me. I need to put in for the Appliances Supervisor spot. Might not get it, but it's important to show initiative and ambition. Plus Supervisor pay would be the hell out of what I'm getting now. Don't ya know.

The highlight of the evening, however, was a whole bunch of us (my brother Jerod, home from Pey-Loo[Peru], Hugh, Phil, Maiko, Craig, Maria, Jeremy, Heather, Derek, Squatch, and Robin) going out to Plum Krazy's to watch an awesome show put on by Chris's band, Also Known As. A good time was had by all. In fact, I just got back in just now. No, really! Of course, I have to be at work at 7. So no sleep for me until after the meeting. Bleh.

do you (you!) feel like we do?

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Day 6.

Still no new supplies. I have consumed all but the last can of pasta. After tomorrow's breakfast, I fear there will be little left. My companions seem unable or unwilling to procure new supplies on their own and I will not be capable of a supply run for another three days. Cookies, while tasty, provide little nurtition.

Someone (not me) needs to make a grocery store run. Milk and bread. This is neither difficult nor expensive. Well, it's expensive if you're flat broke. Really, all I need is a gallon of milk, a loaf of bread, lettuce and some dressing. Then at least I'll have some food. We have cereal but no milk. An abundance of peanut butter and jelly, but no bread or crackers even. We have hamburger helper, but no hamburger. The only thing we have left, really, is some Chef Boyardee lasagna bake (hooray sodium) and one can of canned pasta ravioli (yay more sodium.)

signed, Oultaw Prophet of Greensboro

Thursday, July 21, 2005

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Wow. What an awesome book. In three (two and a half, really) sittings, I completed the book. If it weren't for work I might have done it in one. And twisty, wouldn't you know it. The biggest twist, for me, was finding out who the Half-Blood Prince turned out to be. And no, it's not who you think. No, not even him. And it's not an obvious "not who you think" either. Just a good damn book. If you thought some of the other books were starting to look a little dark, yeah. They got nothin' on this one. Lucky for me then that Chris was playing at a release party thing in Raliegh and got himself a copy. Because I was then able to read his copy. Whee.

yeah, grey is my favorite color

Kwizatz Haderach of Geeks, still

The Deviant Geek
You answered 85% of the questions as a geek truly would.

You're a geek and you know it. You've got all sorts of fringe hobbies and socially unacceptable tendencies. Chances are, whenever possible, you hate to be grouped with other people and sometimes go out of your way just to be different.

You're smart too. You're more willing to depend on your own brainpower to solve problems, instead of relying on others to pull you through life. You probably read a lot, and generally enjoy learning new things.

So what's it all mean? You may be considered by some to be uncool, but you probably don't care either. In social situations you may be either slightly passive or slightly loud (geeks always fall into the extremes). In a nutshell, you answered enough questions correctly supporting a geek philosophy to be considered a more potent geek than 60% of the population.




My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender:
free online datingfree online dating
You scored higher than 92% on geekness
Link: The True Geek Test written by ambientred on Ok Cupid

Saturday, July 16, 2005

Zelda Junkie

So payday was today. And what do I do with it? Save for the future? Tuck it away for a larger purchese next month? Put it towards that new car I want to get? Heck no! I go and buy The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap and Farscape Season 3. To be fair, though, I got both at a discount (Used at EB Games for the former and eBay for the latter) and of such a discount as to be a small portion of my paycheck, the rest of which went to my monthly savings deposit and bills.

But Minish Cap is everything a Zelda game should be. Puzzles, monsters, the quest for a better sword to save the princess. Though it would be hard to be as expansive as Wind Waker or Ocarina of Time, it stands to reason that it could easily be as big as A Link to the Past was. And that was a big one. Supposedly, Minish Cap is the first Zelda story in the timeline Nintendo says exists, so that's kinda cool. And it incorporates a large number of sound effects from the later games while keeping with the A Link to the Past look and feel that is so well known and loved by Zelda freaks like me. Now all I need is the Zelda Collection for the Gamecube and A Link to the Past for the GBA and I'll have every (true) Zelda game. Whee!

ha! come on!

Saturday, July 09, 2005

And That's News to Me

Well, about me, really. But hey, that's what this whole blog is for, yeah?

First, Arby's is my new best friend. Often times I don't eat my dinner until 9 or 10PM. Why? Because I have a seriously malfunctioning circadian rhythm. Eating after 7? My word, but that's bad for you! You'll become fat! Perhaps, little Timmy, if I didn't stay up until 2 or 3 most nights. Eat at 10, awake for four more hours at the least. Similar to eating at 6 and going to bed at 10. Reasonable, at least in my sleep patterns. But! Arby's has a thing where you can choose from a selection of options and get four of those items for five bucks. Two sammiches, a fry and a drink for $5.35. Can't beat it.

Secondly, I've reinstalled Final Fantasy XI. Which was an adventure of its own, I tell ya what. Not only is it a lengthy prospect (the actual installation takes two hours-ish from the discs), but I had lost my ID and password. And you can't register but once with the key given. So I call the customer service to get it back. Verification of me being me is going ok, but for the fact that they need the first and last four digits of the credit card I was using when I had the ID. Wtf? That was almost a year ago. I had no clue (then) what it was. A week later, my brain stumbles upon the needed information. If I couldn't remember, I was just going to sacrifce the $20 for a new copy when I got paid again. However, I had already deleted it off the hard drive. So. Two more hours of installing. Then! Eight (EIGHT!) hours of version updating since I bought the game way back in the fall of '03. There had been a lot of updates since then. It didn't help that my network disappeared for a few hours the first time I tried to do the update. But I got back on. Turned all the visuals to maxi-effin-mum. And boy is it pretty. And fun, too. Well it was once I got it working properly. Seems ZoneAlarm doesn't like it when I change areas. Won't allow my computer to download new data for an area. But once I turned off that particular firewall (I've got more where that come from, you buggers!), it was awesome. At least for me, but I'm a geek. A gamer geek. A gamer geek with a Final Fantast addiction going all the way back to '96. The only surviving game addiction that has been around longer is my Zelda addiction which goes back into the 1980's. But that's been discussed around here before. And probably will be again once I get Minish Cap. When, not if.

Lastly, moving sucks. Doug and I lent a hand in moving our friend Heather into her new place, which is a really nice place. On the second floor. Ick. But there were 5 able(ish) bodied guys, Heather, her mom, two trucks, and two trailers. All in all not too bad. But moving twice, whether it's your crap or not, within three months of each other is uncool. Luckily, for me, I have to work tomorrow. They're going to be moving a washer and dryer up stairs. Ha!

Chris will be back from his foray with the National Guard Band this week, meaning there will be drunken smoking going on this weekend upcoming. I've been, mostly, dry for the last three weeks, should be amusing. Hmm. I only seem to drink a lot when Chris is around. Is there a meaning behind that? Either being around him makes me want to drink, or he's my drinking buddy. Probably both.

Whee!

I do believe it's working, good

Saturday, July 02, 2005

News? What?

I often try to keep politics out of my blog here and focus more on crap that has absolutely no meaning to anyone outside of my circle of friends. But, I feel, perhaps, it is time I said something, although, because of the nature of my blog, only the aforementioned circle of friends will see my blog. Go fig. Anyway.

Bush's handling of Iraq is unpopular. Well no shit. It's an ugly, politically motivated, politically-correct war. Anyone's handling of Iraq would be unpopular. If Kerry or Gore or, hell, the Pope were president, their handling of the war would be unpopular. And comparisons to Vietnam are crap. Utter bullshit. Why? Well, let's break it down. Vietnam: Jungle. Never fought in a jungle before. Iraq: Desert. We know deserts. We've been in them before. Hell, we've been in the area before. A lot. Also? Casualties. Just on sheer numbers, this war is far better for us. Any American soldier who is killed in combat is a tragedy. But 1500? Over the course of 840 days? Would that all wars should be this clean.

I've got a childhood buddy of mine over there, so don't go accusing me of bein unsympathetic to the friends and families of the soldiers over there. My friend joined up knowing he'd go to war. He wanted to do it. His father retired a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army. Flew helicopters in Vietnam, two tours. Purple Heart. Green Beret. Distinguished Flying Cross. The boy wants to follow his father and serve.

And we've done some real good over there. John Scalzi has mentioned before in his blog that even if the reasons for going over there weren't kosher, we still needed to be over there. And I agree. Saddam had to be stopped. No one else would, so we had to. It's our calling. Team America: World Police. (America! F@#k, yeah!) The Iraqi people have a democratically elected government. Our soldiers toppled tyranny and gave freedom. And I would like to think that the men and women who have died would be proud to know that their lives were given to free a nation from oppression. It is a noble and holy calling.

Supreme Court rulings. Yeah. Well. I can see where they're coming from on the Ten Commandments issue, so I got no beef there. The internet downloading issue, however, hits a little closer to home. I don't download music like I used to, but I've got a lot of music that, well, let's say I never had a hard copy of. I have many times downloaded music to taste a band before buying a CD. And I have bought several CDs using such a method. But attack as they might, the RIAA and MPAA is fighting a futile battle. No matter how many services they topple, those that want to file-share will find a way (gyar.)

In other news, it's 5AM and I have to open in a few hours. I have no clue why I got struck with such a hard case of insomnia, but it's annoying as hell. Also, Inu Yasha remains one of the best animes ever. Sesshomaru is badassitude. I'm also testing the waters on buying a new car. Anglee *wolf howls*(sorry, American Dad. I know that was your gimmick for Karl Rove *baawwwooooooo* but it's funny.) has given up on her 199X Honda. It needs some engine work, but as part of buying the car I'd be willing to split the costs to get it running. Needs a paint job, but I've never owned a car that didn't. But it's a Honda. Much better gas mileage. I can do a lot with a Honda. And I think it would look damn cool in a gunmetal grey.

4:57AM. Time to try and get a few hours of nap in before my day.

push me and then just hurt me till i can get my satisfaction

Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Take the MIT Weblog Survey

Take that survey, all you bloggers in the world. It'll help MIT get a better sample. And who doesn't like MIT? Just a quick pop in whilst I'm in the midst of doing other things that also end in -st. Or not. Right. Chris is finally back from his (curse him) vacation in (also curse him) Walt Disney World in Florida. But I think he needed the trip, so good for him. The bugger.

Work. Yeah, what to say about work. Everyone sucks on the sales floor but me. Jimmy's given more a few more responsibilities on the floor, which is a bit of a stressor. No more pay (yet) for the active and competent execution of these new responsibilities, but my time will come. In the interim, howe'er, he has tasked me with the training of all the new guys that will be coming in to the Car Audio department. Echos of Chick-fil-A, there. Speaking of CFA, the boss-man paid for lunch there today. Free food = ample recognition. For me at least. If rockin' at the job means more free lunches for me, I'll keep on rockin' at the job. Unfortunately, there's not much chance of me being promoted within the Car Audio department to senior, what with there being a senior already and another guy with lots more experience to take his place should the current senior crap out. But I like it there. No plans to go to another department until I max out my pay scale in Car Audio. Even with the increased responsibility, I am personally responsible for less by way of actual revenue. Which, given my experience in selling computers for an hour last week, I am by no means incapable of making more money, but I'm lazy. If I can make the same money with a little less work and a little less demands, well, I'll go for it. Have I mentioned how much I love my job?

Also, if anyone knows any household remedies to remove rust from steel, that'd be super. I'd like to start cleaning up my armor, but my rust remover stuff didn't make it up here from my mom's yet.

go monkey go

Monday, June 27, 2005

I Can Officially Cook

The true test of one's ability to cook is in taking raw ingredients and, without recipe or directions, make a full meal. Done and done. The result? Seasoned (Jameson Whiskey, minced garlic, olive oil, basil, oregano, and steak seasoning) steak tips over spaghetti (boiled with just a smidge of olive oil and a dash of garlic powder) with a tomato sauce (with, of course, lots of garlic, oregano and basil.) So there. The rest of the steak is marinating in a homemade concoction. The results of that will have to wait until they are actually cooked.

But at the moment I have laundry that needs doing and a small cat resting stubbornly on my shoulder. Rah.

tell 'em I ain't comin' back

Thursday, June 23, 2005

Weird Dreams as if from Nowhere!

So yeah. Weird dreams for me last night. The first was a dream set in an ancient Chtulu-esque temple I lived in (o.O) right behind an ancient BestBuy I was finding myself the manager of(o.O). Only here comes corporate and I'm in my underwear! Wtf?!

The second was a lot darker. But I don't have time to get into it at the moment. Work soon. I'll post the second dream after work. But it was the first dream I was ever able to re-enter after being woken up by my cat. Stupid cat.

sweet dreams are made of this

Friday, June 17, 2005

De Machina Antiquus

All of my computing has been shifted (back) to Skywarp. Luthien has not been retired, however, as she still serves as extra processing power if I need her, and also my communications array when I am online gaming. Because I am a geek of the highest order. I also have a nice new all-in-one printer/scanner/copier/whojiwhatsits. And, thanks to me, we are currently on Wireless G, not Wireless B. Of course, Doug and Chris have B cards, so only I get the benefits of this, but that's what they get for not upgrading. Bwahaha. So be afraid. Be very afraid. Skywarp is nigh-unto self aware. Once he undergoes his final upgrade, he will take over the world's computers and change his name to SkyNet.

you give us everything you've got

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

Experiments in Luxury

It's been no secret that Chris and I do so enjoy the physical comforts and luxuries this world can offer. Our current apartment is in the first complex we looked at when we were looking around about 6 months ago. Reason being? THey had a gazebo out over the small lake in the middle of the complex. In addition to the nice pool, covered jacuzzi, and massive sun deck. The apartments were huge, the amenities amazing. We have leather living room furniture. We're planning to get an HDTV and a surround system by the end of the summer. But on to what I was going to say...

At least once a week, we'll pack up the hookah and take a couple of bottles of wine or liquor out to the gazebo and chill for a few hours in the pleasantness of the atmosphere. It's beautiful way to wind down after any kind of day. So a few weeks ago I postulated that adding a small amount of mead, honey wine, to the water used in the hookah might work well. And boy did it ever. Of course, since there's alcohol in the smoke from the hookah, you'll find yourself under the influence swiftly, since instead of being digested and run through your blood, the drink is actually absorbed directly into the blood stream through the lungs. But it was nice being able to taste the mead and the double apple tobacco. So for those of you out there with a hookah (not a bong. Marijuana is stupid.) put a little bit of your favorite wine or juice in the water. Yum.

just a little too slow

Saturday, June 04, 2005

Dior Thingol, Young Prince of Felix

I have a new cat! Kitten, really. I think he's 10 weeks old. Tiny little critter he is. He's a dark grey tabby tux cat. His name is Dior Thingol, which means Dark Grey Coat in Sindarin Elvish. We call him DT for short. Bailey, of course, immediately wanted to play, only the tiny guy wasn't too keen on the prospect. Ebony is, as to be expected, wholly unimpressed at the prospect of another cat in the house, especially one so young. But he's a cute little thing. I'll have to find my digital camera, snap a few shots of him when I can.

hail Dior, Thingol's Heir

Wednesday, June 01, 2005

Oh. Hey. Yeah.

As it turns out, corporations can make mistakes and can even rectify those mistakes relatively swiftly. Car Audio was doing rather poorly last month. The store was doing ok, but my department was just lagging in the numbers. But we can't really control a whole lot of that. If people aren't interested in radios, they aren't interested in radios. Then someone had the bright idea to look at more than straight percentages. Then all of a sudden, we're looking not horrible but actually pretty good, save revenue. Because while we didn't have large numbers by percentage, the amount of money we were making for Best Buy was significant. Meaning we didn't sell as much as we should have, but what we did sell was making lots of margin dollars. So last month wasn't as terrible as it could have looked. This month has started off with a massive bang for us. We had made our budget by 6PM, whereas the closest department was sitting at 75% at the time. So we rock.

Now if only I could get someone to realize that paying me $0.24 more an hour doesn't mean you can cut my weekly hours by 8. 1) A week full of 6.5 hour days means NO LUNCH for Justin. Which makes Justin more than a little cranky. 2) You're actually paying me less. More per hours, but enough of a cut in hours to make me poorer. We're currently operating at 70% of our payroll budget in Car Audio so it's not like we can't afford it.

My room finally approaches finished! My desk made it up this past Saturday. I didn't get to cleaning it out until yesterday, though. Moved the laptop off my dresser to actually sitting on the desk (OMGWTFBBQ!!!1). And while Jerod (LOSER!) forgot my desk chair, I've ganked one from the, mostly, unused dining room. Temporarily, of course. If this place didn't already feel so much like home, it would feel more like home. But this is home. First place since my parents' houses that felt like home. Now Salisbury is "Mom's house" and Greensboro is "my" house. Whee.

Lastly, allergies, you are a dick. You go aaaalllll bloody spring without so much as a peep. And then, without warning, you smite me about the head and shoulders. This morning. Yes, you were there, you remember. No warning. Felt just fine last night, don't ya know. I will destroy you.

bad case of lovin' you

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Many Futures

So it's been a while since I last updated. And there's a lot of ground to cover. So here goes.

I've started saving for the future! I enrolled in the 401(k) program at work and my last paycheck saw my first deposit. I've also opened a savings account with automatic deposits of $25 a month, plus whatever I put in myself. So yay my future. Especially since I got my first raise. So yay!

In other news, Chris is not having a great time now. I won't go into why, it's not my place. If you are curious, ask him.

KOTOR II: Rocking my socks. Thanks for letting me hang on to your Xbox, Jerod.

Also, mad kudos to Joss Whedon. I was watching an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. There's a Dungeon Master character, and he's running a game for girl I don't recognise, Xander, and Giles. And the players go up against Trogdor the Burninator. Trogdor! The Burninator! Of Homestarrunner.com fame! How cool is that?!

burninating the peasants

Thursday, May 19, 2005

The Power of the Dark Side

George Lucas, I applaude you.

Even The Return of the King did not move me in the way Episode III has. Let the nay-sayers wring their hands and mourn their lost youth and dreams. It is they who have lost sight of what Star Wars was supposed to be about. There is beauty and nostalgia in the first three movies, the Original Trilogy. But in my eyes, this movie will live on as the shining triumph of the entire saga. Five movies. Five films, each great in their own right, designed from inception to be a space opera, an epic, archetype filled saga for kids, both young and old. But now something different. The last, and, I believe, oldest piece of the story. The fall. The fall of the chosen hero. Epic and moving. Dark. Thought-provoking. I am an introvert, so perhaps not everyone reacted internally as I did. What I took from this film was a resonance and a call for self-reflection and inspection. My fortune cookie at dinner read: "You could acheive greatness in your lifetime." I have always identified with the character of Anakin Skywalker. The most powerful characters that literature can create are the fallen heroes. He fell from Grace to save his wife. How can I not identify with that mentality? It's almost scary. I could be Anakin. I fully understand his motivations, his choices. I would have done it all the same. There's a reason why the lightsabers I have are all replicas of Darth Vader's.

It's all left me feeling very, well, dark. That deep, familiar, inner darkness that has permeated my being since I reached the Age of Reason. I resisted temptation, tonight. I want you all to know that. A very...very...powerful temptation. A temptation I would have much rather given in to. Not a new one, but one nonetheless. And feel only a bitter aftertaste like bile choking up my throat for it. Aren't I supposed to feel something better, a more positive reinforcement for resisting temptation? Iustis Pius Augustus, Virgin Emporer of America. Pure. Faithful. Dark.

you were the chosen one

Saturday, May 07, 2005

*cricket*

Wow. It's been a while. Just to check in, things are going right well. We settled into the new place over the space of a few...well...minutes. Even Doug and Chris, who weren't living in a state of half-moved, settled swiftly. Bailey, "our"(Chris' dog, but she's just as much mine, really) dog, settled the fastest of us all. She came in, ran around, jumped, smiled, played, and was at home. While we were still moving stuff in, of course. I think the one creature in the house that took the longest was Ebony, the cat. But even he, in his psycho-squirelliness, was settled in a few days. I still lack furniture, but my mom is coming up Monday with a goodly portion of it, so I'll have more than my bed, some boxes and a handful of milk crates for furniture. Milk crates worked wonders in the dorm room and as temporay cubicle storage in my old room as a kid. Not so much the me that's trying to establish a non-college bachelor look for myself. I love my closet. Did I mention that I have a closet? A closet! For the first time since my old house back in my junior year in high school a good, what will be, 7 years ago. Which reminds me. I'll be 23 in a week. Now, normally, 23 isn't a big deal. It's just a number of small importance between 21 and 25, when the numbers start counting by fives. But 23 puts me at an age when most people have graduated from college, or are a year or two into careers, not jobs. Right now, I have a stable job. One that I'm good at, I enjoy (most of the time at least), and pays reasonably well. There is plenty of room, and chance, for advancement and, if I wanted it, a career. Ideally, I'd have a job where my livelihood depended not on my treatment of the customer, but on the sheer strength of my work. Like, say, Hollywood stars. Many are notable assholes to the media and fans, but they get paid bajillions of dollars because people like what they do. There is at least one customer on any given day I'll just want to slug and tell off. But I like my job, and wish to keep it. But hey, the raise of awesome should be coming on the next pay check. Which is awesome because I closed out with 41 hours and 41 minutes this week. Overtime, oh yeah. I think that's it for now. Once I get the furniture and my other computer and everything up and going, I'll take some pictures of the place. I promise.

Also, my birthday is going to rock, I can tell already. I'm throwing this hellacious party, and I already know some of what I'm getting. Not because I peaked but because they asked what I wanted, and I told them. Or they've just said "I'm going to give you this." But that's cool with me.

your mind is not your own

Saturday, April 30, 2005

Moved! Yay!

So we're moved in now! Most excellent! I've got my room planned out, but I need to get the furniture in my room, first. But Dad's bringing my bed tomorrow, along with some nice living room furniture. Our cable is on early! So I can sit here and update from the new living room today instead of next Tuesday. Once we get everything moved in and unpacked, I'll take some pictures and post them up for you guys to see. So very happy!

Squee!

movin' on up

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

...

Do not underestimate the power of the Dark Side.

Friday, April 22, 2005

Update! w00t!!!1

Sorry it's been so long, folks. I've been really busy these past few days. Work, work, work. But work is looking good. Just the other day, I joked with my supervisor about getting a two-three dollar raise. He didn't laugh. He said something more along the lines of "well, we'll see." Yeah, I could do with that kind of raise. Any kind of raise will be nice, though. So work, work is good. There's been a competition of sorts in the department. Whoever sells the most service plans gets a $25 gift card. And free lunch. Yeah, free lunch! I have 55. My closest competitor has I think 27. Yes, I am awesome. I have a career ahead of me, should I choose.

Also, we move in seven days. Seven! Yay! So. Very. Excited. w00t.

Sunday, April 17, 2005

The Lessons of Ethyl

I figured something out today. Completely on accident. It was actually a mistake on my part. But it worked out alright in the end. Mike's Hard Lemonade, by the by, is incredibly easy to drink a lot of fast. Tale to follow.

So since I was getting off of work fairly early in the evening, and since Holly had the day free, we decided to make a little something of the night. Willow, Quizno's salads and alcohol. I had four of the blasted Mike's Hard Lemonades in about half an hour. Because they're really easy to drink. Even a man of my size will get a buzz off of 48 oz. of malted beverage at 5.2% alcohol by volume. As I was. Started to feel a tingle in my face and hands. That's when it struck me. That's how it happened so fast, so hard. My senses were on overdrive, but I was almost completely open. No defenses. But then, I never wear the armor around Holly anyway. It was pleasant evening all around, but...not what I was hoping for. My fingers would brush her shoulder, withdraw. She certainly kept me at arm's length the whole time. Just close enough without getting close again. It felt like she was afraid of loving me. Is afraid. I think I know some of the reasons why. And once the movie was over I had to wait around a bit to sober up enough to drive safely. Straight to a bar. I'm not a binge drinker, promise. I had a grand total of one more drink, a beer, Red Oak, at Plum Krazy's. After that, waters and cokes.

I really don't want to wait three more years before the next one shows up. Of course, I'd rather not have this relationship be done, either. I hate being cut off from touch. It's cold. Lonely.

Hate it.

i want you to want me

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

I am the Left Hand of God



I am the Left Hand of God, Sama'liel.

Saturday, April 09, 2005

If You're Just That Good

It's not being pretentious if you're really that good. Which, apparently, I am. It's an odd thing having an older, divorced, albeit not unattractive, woman tell you that you have magic hands. And then shortly after guess your age at 26-28. Bear in mind, gentle reader, that I am a month or so shy of 23. I'll take looking 4 or 5 years older. I am beginning to guess that I might be a lot better than I think I am. Just in general. I've always chalked it up to luck, this skill of my hands. But my luck isn't nearly good enough to justify the numbers any more. One or two, ok, that I could believe. But now? Just too much to be luck or coincidence any more. I am good with my hands. Who knew? Well, actually, I can think of one or two people who knew. Heh.

he's got the magic hands

oh come on. who didn't see that one coming? seriously!