| Kittens, Kittens, Everywhere, But None For Me To Eat |
[Aug. 21st, 2006|06:43 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | Statler Brothers-Flowers On The Wall | ] |
Ridiculous things cats did this week:
Boots, chasing a foam ball I was throwing, overruns the ball attempting to stop on the linoleum and skids into the water cooler at full bore. He then grips the ball with his teeth and runs and hides inside the cat cage, too embarrassed to play anymore.
Libby opens the washcloth drawer skillfully with her claw. She then pulls the cloths out of the drawer and throws them on the floor, for no discernable reason.
Boots pees all over the upstairs counter. Oh. Yeah, that one, not so cute.
Humorous Oblivion story:
Now that I am the baddest-ass mage in the all the land (ignoring that the extent of my wizardry is to use all my MP to summon the best creature I can and then hack enemies to death with my sword), I can choose to take an Apprentice with me on my adventures. Unfortunately, the Apprentices are weaklings and are basically cannon fodder. There appears to be an unlimited supply, so no matter, but I have to wonder, what are the other mages saying?
"The Archmage, he takes the Apprentices with them, and none of them ever come back. I mean, sure, he says they got killed by ogres or mountain lions or vampires, but really, whats he doing with them?"
When you throw in my tendency to loot my dead apprentice's corpses, well, the available evidence might lead you to a conclusion that is in no way accurate.
While I was "working," I rediscovered something that was the height of cool three or four years ago, and found out, that, oh yes, stick figures are still the height of cool.
Other than that, another slow week, due mostly to my attempt to stick my brother with an empty tank of gas, but I've found out that that plan will fail, so tomorrow I will show Tiffanie and Daven how Stratego is really played. And, maybe some Frisbee? Undergrads? Orgies? I dunno, but I'll be Groving it up tomorrow. Damn, just realizing I won't be stuck at home tomorrow has cheered me up. School really really needs to start. |
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| Seven O' The Watch And All's Well |
[Aug. 14th, 2006|07:17 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | Sufjan Stevens - John Wayne Gacy, Jr. | ] |
Tuition was due. The money I worked for over the summer sadly departed before it could even collect interest. I'm slowly gearing up to leave, procuring extra boxes from work, getting all my clothes clean, waiting to get life started up again. |
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| (no subject) |
[Aug. 7th, 2006|08:35 pm] |
Frustrating week at work. I oscillated between having seven projects that all had to be done right now to having nothing to do. Oh well. Three weeks and counting.
Corey's birthday was Saturday (or we celebrated it then anyway). Watched Talladega Nights, which had its moments but was mostly mediocre, then went to Red Robin, which was approximately as good as I expect from Red Robin. I didn't have enough cash, so everybody gave me their money in small bills while I paid with plastic.
We hung out, met up with busy RA types, gifts were given, pinatas were decapitated, fun was had. Corey beat me at poker after I took out everyone else, proving once again that I am not a good player heads-up. Oh well. Happy birthday, Corey.
Late Sunday night, I notice some water on the floor, a common sight, because the cats tend to bat at the water dish for some reason. Then I see my cell phone on the floor with the battery pack detached, which tends to happen when it falls off of things, like the counter it was sitting on. Goddamn. I pick it up, luckily its not too waterlogged, and then I see my wallet, also from the counter, floating in the water dish, explaining the splash damage. Goddamn. Then I realize that I have about 80 dollars in small bills in my wallet that are now soaking wet. Goddamn. Moral of the story, I now have a soggy wallet and a great deal of damp currency. Stupid cats.
Parentals are going camping again this weekend, it'll just be me and Eric. It'll be about as exciting as you might imagine just me and Eric hanging out all weekend. |
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| Trapped In The System |
[Jul. 31st, 2006|05:55 pm] |
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Weekly updates only work when something interesting happens in the previous week. Um, Daven's back, which is cool, and I'm ready for school to start, but since when is that news? |
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| The Way We've Been For Far Too Long |
[Jul. 24th, 2006|08:13 pm] |
Perhaps I will make Monday evening a regular weekly update, so you may get your full dose of the Marble, which has been endorsed by a member of our Armed Forces (a two-star general, I think), as having "the most content per entry," which is only kind of a compliment if you think about it, so I advise that you don't.
So I met Tiffanie's Mormon friend from Utah, and we ended up talking about random stuff for four or five hours, which was an experience. They really do make them different there.
Then I met my (kinda) Mormon friend from Dundee, and we played games and talked and ate delicious Chinese food without him, since he left because I guess the girl he's marrying is more important than me. Whatever.
Watched a good movie, A History of Violence. Basic premise: Two bad guys try to rob a restaurant, and Aragorn kills them. He's a hero, but wait: the mob thinks they recognize Aragorn as a lapsed member. Are they right? Are they crazy? Is Aragorn just really forgetful? Well, you'll just have to find out.
Read a good book, Camouflage, the kind that once you get about a quarter in you realize you might as well forget the next few hours, because you're not stopping until you finish. Basic premise: Two aliens are on Earth, both practically immortal, with different methods of hiding themselves among us for millions of years. Now humans find one of the aliens artifacts, and both aliens, the Good one who has Learned to Love, and the Bad One, will undergo events which lead to a climactic scene and eventually conclude satisfactorily with an underlying message about human nature. In case I haven't sold you, the aliens fighting is a lot like if the Terminator were to fight the Predator. If that doesn't sell you, well, you are truly a lost soul.
Seeing as how Kelly is safely away in Wisconsin, and depending on who you ask, World War III started last week, I'm going to dip into politics for a little while.
Lets say there's an Axis of Evil, and its made up of three countries, Iran, Iraq, and North Korea. The Bush administration, in its infinite wisdom, determines that Iraq is a likely candidate to try out its new theories of democratizing the Middle East by the gun barrel. Claims of weapons of mass destruction and how Iraq tried to by uranium from Niger and how Saddam Hussein probably planned 9/11 are tossed about, and, well, none of those things were true. I hope I don't need to tell you about how Iran and North Korea and weapons of mass destruction have turned out. Lets say we hadn't plowed massive resources into a war which boiled down to a humanitarian mission while places like Darfur were ignored. Don't you think that we might be better prepared to deal with real threats with actual nuclear ambitions like Iran and North Korea? Anyone? Regardless, why haven't we since dropped Iran and North Korea like they're hot? Well, Paul Krugman, one of my most favoritest columnists, has an interesting theory on the matter, which I would link to but you have to have a New York Times subscription to get at it. Oh well, I'll sum it up.
The Bush administration identifies certain countries as Evil.
Therefore, we will not negotiate with those countries, because obviously negotiating with evil is bad.
In fact, if those countries appear ripe for the taking (Iraq), we may attack them preemptively (read: without provocation) before they can commit more Evil.
Therefore, it is in the interest of Evil countries to appear dangerous, so we will not attack them.
See North Korea launching new scary missiles, Iran developing nuclear power and sponsoring a war against Israel in their spare time. In the meantime, we've discovered that Iraq is perhaps not as ripe as it looked, and as the world destabilizes, the world's superpower, on a mission to force peace on the world, does nothing.
OK, I'm done now.
Not much going on next week. Work, video games, whatever comes up. And that'll do it for this week's installment of Slipping Into Second-Person Writing. |
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| Karma |
[Jul. 18th, 2006|05:26 pm] |
Interesting last few days. Saturday in particular was just strange.
Exhibit A: As I drive to Forest Grove, a silver Subaru follows me all the way from Newberg. At first, I don't think that much of it, I mean, this route is how you would go to Seaside or Cannon Beach or Astoria, its not that quiet. But then they follow me into the city , and from behind me, gesture to turn onto a side street I wasn't turned on. A little spooked, I decide if they want to follow me so damn bad, they can follow me to where I'm parking on campus. They don't, and I don't see them again.
Exhibit B: I almost die, because, as driving through Hillsboro, I turn the wrong way down what I swear is a completely unlabelled one-way street. Ask Tiffanie, there was no damn sign.
Exhibit C: Portland is strangely dead for a Saturday afternoon. Hardly any people around, and a lot of restaurants are closed. Is that normal?
Exhibit D: We almost die. . . again when a parked car tries to jump us. Not so much strange as a guy in a hurry not paying attention.
Exhibit E: The winner. We're at Pioneer Square waiting to get on the MAX. Getting on the same train is a girl in all black, black dress, black hair, black makeup, black leggings, even a black umbrella. I mean, its Portland, so its not that weird. But wait. As the train departs, a couple of blocks down we see a different girl in the exact same clothes. I mean, exact, down to the umbrella. Well, maybe they were meeting for a convention. But there's more. We see a third girl, exact same getup, at Beaverton. At this point, I'm pretty sure we have in fact entered an alternate dimension. One where people say "I'm audi" a lot.
Today, I am informed, to my great pleasure </sarcasm>, that the office that me and fellow temp Angela share will be gaining three new production temps for three or four weeks. Joy. The room not only is not big enough for five people, with all the random junk that has been dumped in here, there's barely room for two. . . and guess who's going to have to find a new place for that junk? Not the production temps, I can tell you that much. Since I use a laptop at work, I'm told I will probably have to roam about the offices wherever there's space at any given time. Awesome. But wait! Salvation! You see, Lorenzo the engineering manager has just left the company to work in Texas or somesuch. So guess who gets his office until they hire a replacement? Not the production temps. I get a real computer, enough space that I believe I could give each individual item I use its own personal drawer. . . and, wait for it, a minifridge. All to myself. Now that's what I'm talking about. |
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| Hell Hath No Fury Like A Woman Without Livejournal Updates |
[Jul. 14th, 2006|06:34 pm] |
As if you don't know what I've been doing. Whore.
Florida was fun, in a constantly-stressful kind of way. Those of you more familiar with my family understands that we don't really do. . . functional. Or pleasant. No, unpleasantly dysfunctional is more how we do. But Disney World is a pretty cool place to be, particularly the water parks. I spent our entire last day in the Typhoon Lagoon, a wave pool with periodic massive waves (10 feet high-ish?) that knock everyone more than 3 feet into the water over. Its one of the few Disney features that don't feel completely managed. The best more legitimate ride was the new Aerosmith (I don't understand either) themed coaster. . . which about a week after we left, somebody died on. Well. Kind of puts a damper on that experience.
Work is good. I still get shuttled from long drudging task to long drudging task, but the people are fun to work with, and it has provided a notable upward trend in my back account.
Last weekend was cool. I spent approximately four hours at home, between meeting Kristen on Friday, going to a cancer conference with my mom on Saturday (about as much fun as it sounds) then spending the night at Tiff's apartment with Adam and Corey and meeting up with most of the group on Sunday going to the infamous Tillamook Cheese Ice Cream Factory, which produces delicious dairy products. Then we went to nearby Oceanside, which was. . . well, an Oregon beach. Perpetually November. Then we went to Corey's and embarked on a night of ridiculous stereotypes. I mean, it was one thing when the women did the cooking. Me, Corey, and Adam basically can't cook. Fair enough. But when we watched Gladiator and played Halo while the girls played Pretty Pretty Princess!? Come on. Then the few survivors played something like six rounds of Cosmic Encounter in a row. I am really happy that we played a not-party game. I don't care how nerdy it makes you feel, that's good stuff right there. Even Corey enjoyed it. . . although I suspect its mostly due to the game giving him the power to fuck others over. (Not an actual power)
Miscellaneous notes: I miss Frisbee. Not only because its a fun way to spend my afternoons, but also because I can feel the condition that I got my body into slowly bleeding away, and I can't motivate myself to, y'know, work out.
I've played 20 hours of Oblivion and haven't even begun to scratch the surface of the main quest. I'm way to busy fighting in gladiatorial arenas and stealing things and getting chased by vampires in sewers.
While in Florida, in lieu of a tourist T-shirt, I got my mom to buy me the new Motion City Soundtrack CD (er, the new special rerelease or whatever), which almost immediately supplanted Panic! as my most-listened to music. I dunno, the more I listen to Panic the more I notice how depressing they are, even though they sound really good.
Not a lot going on this weekend. Warped Tour was canned when tickets rose to above 40 dollars. I'll probably hang out with Tiffanie , who has The Power To Cause Car Embarrassments. Others are, as always, welcome.
Addendum: When did it become popular to say "I'm Audi?" I've only heard Adam say it, and now I heard/read it twice today, from people who I'm pretty sure don't know Adam. |
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| Away Message |
[Jun. 15th, 2006|12:50 am] |
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I'm going to Florida for a week. Hold the line in my absence. |
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| Not Cost Effective |
[Jun. 10th, 2006|02:49 pm] |
I got my first paycheck, a nice 450 dollars after taxes, and immediately (on the same trip I deposited the check) bought the 360 and Oblivion. And it was good. Oblivion looks amazing. . . like, I'm standing on a hill looking at the outside world, and in another game, the outside world would just be background, but in Oblivion, I could go down that hill and run into that background and it would be real places. Its a really cool feeling, like San Andreas mixed with Knights of the Old Republic.
But then, I decided to check out how it looked on Daven's HDTV. This was a mistake. While the game looked awesome, I left it in Tiff's apartment. Oops. Without plans to go back to the Grove until the weekend at the earliest, I on a whim bought Indigo Prophecy for 20 bucks at the Unholy Mess of Electronics that is Frye's. And now. . . I don't really care that I don't have Oblivion. Because Indigo Prophecy, in spite of its entire action mechanic being timed button presses and outdated graphics, is badass anyway.
So I start the game as this guy who gets possessed and commits a murder in a restaurant bedroom. And now I have to figure out how to get out of the bathroom without getting caught by the cop who's drinking coffee. So I wash my hands, hide the body, mop the floor, and think OK, I'm clear. I then casually walk out the door, only to stopped by the waitress because I forgot to pay my bill. Shit! Now I have to pay my bill. . . and the cop is going to the bathroom. So I do that as fast as I can, get out of the restaurant, and the game does this cool 24-style thing where I can see the cop finding the body while I'm desperately trying to find a taxi. Of course, I do find a taxi, and move on. Then, I get to play as the detectives investigating the case and discover all the mistakes I made. And its all done in a way that makes sense and is logical. . . no Stupid People Plot Advancement method here. Yep. So I don't know. Maybe I'll get Oblivion tomorrow. . . maybe.
In other news, I won 35 bucks playing poker last night. Because I'm cool like that. |
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| The Meaning Of Life |
[May. 25th, 2006|11:52 pm] |
Sure, we did a year-end bash, but that was really about Adam leaving and being awesome, and y'know, we're all awesome. While I'd like to think that next year we'll pick right up where we left off, who can say for sure? Last year certainly showed that drama happens, so before some of us end up hating each other, I want to talk about how we were the coolest kids on campus.
What I like best is how different we all are. I have a fairly diverse set of interests, but I can talk computers with Daven, video games with Adam, act like a little girl about Lost with Flash, talk sports with Dale, music with Flash or Corey, politics with Tiffanie, misogyny with Amanda and Lindsey. . . I mean, whatever I like, I can get excited about it with someone. That's really neat.
Of course, there's more than that. LipSync, all-nighters in the UC with tests in the morning, Hermaphrodite Island, having serious talks about what makes guys and girls and different for three hours in the UC, stealing Boxer, Potatoes, the Slaigle Room, Halo, sleeping over even though we all live two minutes walking distance from each other. . . and everything else.
Good work superteam. |
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