| I dream of Sarah Palin |
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| 10:41am 10/07/2009 |
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mood:  amused
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Not like that, perv.
I dreamt i was a young Congressman on a camping trip. There, I ran into Sarah Palin who was with a bunch of other people all supporting 2nd Amendment gun owner's rights. I told them I was a veteran and was basically pro-gun. (True in the dream, untrue in real life, where I am a veteran but am not pro-gun, particularly.)
Then, we were attacked by terrorists, who were domestic right-wing extremists. They wanted to torture us after capturing us, saving the "best" - Mrs. Palin, for last. I tried like, a half-dozen times, to grab a gun and blast my way to freedom, but it kept not working. I remember once I managed to snatch the gun and holster off the belt of one of the terrorists, but I fumbled trying to get the button-down snap undone so I could pull the gun out!
I don't remember the rest. In my dream, Sarah Palin was nice. |
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| Nerdiest Dream I've Ever Had |
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| 12:37pm 09/07/2009 |
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mood: amused
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I had a dream that was the nerdiest dream I ever had. I dreamt up a new game-mechanic for Dungeons-and-Dragons, a game I haven't played in years, and almost never in its latest incarnation.
In any case, I decided in my dream that D&D needed more roleplaying elements, so I added this - each character, NPC and monster would have "traits". Those traits could be like, "poor vision" or "sensitive to sunlight" or "easily winded". Anyone who identified one of those traits could then "tag" the trait and choose to either lower the target's AC by 1, or increase their damage to that target by 1.
There would be feats that modified this, for instance rangers could "mark" a tagged target, letting other party-members also take advantage of the tag. Or a ranger could get a feat that let them "auto-tag" their favored prey. These would combo well.
The roll to identify a trait would be a perception roll, which would be a benefit to high wisdom classes, and make paladins and clerics, already identified as "leader" roles, even more useful as a party-leader. Feats to use a trait other than Wisdom would be available, too, as well, as higher levels, getting more than one point advantage from a tag, or using both benefits from one tag. Of course, monsters and NPC's could do the same thing to PC's, and having these traits would provide role-play opportunities to shape who a character is, and how that affects combat.
The funny thing about this dream is, I was telling the new mechanic to an audience at a convention, and the speech came out as if I'd already written it and considered it fully. But, during the process, I was considering new aspects of how it would work and inventing them as I was going along, too - so my creative process not only hands stuff to me when I'm sleeping fully-formed, but it also works to build on the things my sub-conscious has given me.
Also, I'm a big, big, big nerd. |
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| Morning Faces |
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| 08:24am 09/07/2009 |
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mood: sad
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Up very early today, as I have been so often, lately. I worked out, showered, made breakfast and coffee and sat on the balcony reading Iain Banks' latest.
As the morning wore on, people left the building. The entrance is next to my balcony, and I was sitting so that I could see the ocean, which faces in that direction. There are succulents, herbs, a lemon tree and flowers on the balcony ledge, so when I'm sitting quietly it's hard to notice me or anyone at the table.
I notice that everyone who left the building had their eyes firmly fixed on the exit gate. No one looked around, or up - not at the cloudy sky, not at the morning glories blooming, not at the cat lazing on the wall. Just out the gate, and onto the road.
They were on their way and off, most of them with headphones on, too - so they didn't hear the mourning doves and sparrows and hummingbirds and distant crashing surf. |
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| My New Project |
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| 02:22pm 03/07/2009 |
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mood: accomplished
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I need to get in shape. I like to write. I like play video games. So, I'm combining these things into www.wiifatso.com, a blog wherein I play fitness-related video games on the Nintendo Wii, and track its effectiveness, fun, and other stuff.
This is my new project, and I'm pretty excited about it. I've just posted a review of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10, and would love it if you folks would stop by and check it out.
By the way, this is somewhat inspired by ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) daogre's blog, www.ikillit.com, wherein he won't eat any kind of animal unless he personally kills and cooks it. It's funny, cool, and you should check it out, too! |
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| Epic Possum Battle |
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| 01:22pm 03/07/2009 |
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mood: amused
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Possum
Originally uploaded by aghrivaine
"There's a RAT in our house!"
"Actually, it's an opossum."
Scathing look of death.
"Ok. There's an opossum in our house!"
What follows was pretty much hilarious. My cat is useless at this sort of thing, back in Manayunk possums wandering in wasn't entirely uncommon. She would sit and watch it eat out of her bowl, and occasionally look at me as if to say, "So. Are you going to do something about this?" So pyr8queen decided, much as in the Mothra attack, this was a fine opportunity to put her cat, Dummy to use. And, much as in Dummy vs. Mothra, Dummy was utterly uninterested. Dummy refused to even LOOK at the possum, instead preferring to play with a catnip-laced toy a few inches from the possum's tail.
So then we decided we need a "long pokey stick" to dislodge the possum from where it was hiding behind the Cabinet of Curiosities. My part of the job would be to take a picture. The "long pokey stick" was, as it turns out, a boffer halberd from the LARP we play in. This, I am told, made the whole incident "epic".
At any rate, the cats were unruffled, the possum left, the pokey stick worked, and I got this picture. |
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| Water main break |
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| 07:51pm 02/07/2009 |
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mood: amused
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Water main break
Originally uploaded by aghrivaine
Just slipped past this water main break on Lincoln Blvd.
Traffic was at a standstill in every direction, as it happened at a bottleneck with no turn-offs that go through the area. Fortunately, I was astride Bluesephalus, my mighty Vespa, and nimbly passed through.
But not before snapping this picture! |
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| RoboGeisha |
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| 02:09pm 02/07/2009 |
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mood: accomplished
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This is either the greatest thing ever, or the worst. It includes fried shrimp, handicap gun, tengu milk, and the "bust gun" which ... Yeah, I'll just let you watch.
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| The Main Line Murders, 30 years later. |
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| 12:49pm 30/06/2009 |
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mood: anxious
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This is the 30th Anniversary of the Main Line Murders, detailed in this CNN article:
Maine Line Murder Case Echoes 30 Years Later
I have a connection to this case. Susan Reinert was a friend of my mother's, and I knew both her children, Michael and Karen,with whom I played at "Parents Without Partners" meetings that our respective mothers attended.
What's more, Vince Valaitas who is referenced heavily in this article, was my favorite teach at Upper Merion High School, from which I graduated. He was a kindly, encouraging, enthusiastically geeky guy who managed to be both a huge trekker, and also well-spoken and charismatic. He was profoundly effected by this case; the "two part mini-series" mentioned in this article aired in my senior year, 1989. Mr. Valaitas had a hard time with it, as he was himself a character in the show. (Played by an actor, of course.) He was honest about how badly used he felt by Bradfield, and how much the murders had haunted him through his whole life.
It's weird and dark to hear about my favorite teacher in this manner, but I'm glad to hear that he's the head of the English department, and glad to hear he's talking about what happened. And I'm chilled to read this, "The focus shifted to the school where they all taught -- Upper Merion High School, in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Upper Merion was already roiling in scandal. The principal, Smith, was headed to prison. He'd been caught robbing Sears stores dressed as a security guard and prowling a mall parking lot, armed and wearing a hood."
Given that this school was the same that just a few years later graduated Caleb Farley, who turned out to be a murderer himself, it just seems like my dear old Alma Mater is cursed. |
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| Music Monday, Early 90's Summer Music Edition |
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| 11:30am 29/06/2009 |
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mood: amused
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It's about 1990, and I'm driving this crappy Renault. It's early Summer and hot and humid, but the night has slightly cooled the air. The tape deck (that plays cassettes!) is slightly wonky, and plays everything just a little too fast, so every tape I've got I mostly listened to slightly up-tempo and slightly higher pitched.
I'm on my way out to Audubon, PA and the windows are down. I'm listening to "Songs to Learn and Sing" by Echo and the Bunnymen. And this here is one of my favorite songs to sing at the top of my lungs as I drive just a little faster than is safe. I am 18 years old, just about to turn 19. I haven't a clue about how the world works, and no particular plan for the future.
Just to drive. And to sing.
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| Tweeting Iran |
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| 03:32pm 24/06/2009 |
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As is my habit, I was watching the news while getting ready to leave for work this morning. I was apalled.
Naturally the unrest in Iran was a chief topic of interest. But what absolutely blew my mind was that they were reporting on tweets about Iran. Mind you, these were not tweets FROM Iran, they were just random tweets like "We're all praying for you in Iran, stay strong, go long." What the hell? This is news? Unsourced (and unattributed) comments from random people on the internet?
What's more, they were braying about how amazing it was that they're using social media sites to get the scoop on Iran. Has anyone told these morons that they're supposed to be reporting TO the masses on the facts, rather than reporting on what the masses are yammering about? The difference between Twitter and MSNBC is that, allegedly, MSNBC has journalists on staff who will confirm and fact-check the sources they report on. If I want to hear what jackasses on Twitter are saying about Iran, I'll just go to Twitter. And they were proud of this! Like it was some major breakthrough in journalism, to dispense entirely with journalistic integrity and just repeat rumor and hearsay.
There's no accountability in journalism - no one to pull them up to a short, sharp halt and tell them they're DOING IT WRONG. But I sure as hell won't be watching MSNBC again anytime soon, or any other news reporter that just repeats rumors and claims it's "news".
This just in from Twitter, "MSNBC staffed entirely by fucking donkeys!" "Reporters club baby harp seals to release tension after work!" "Journalism is dead, and twitter is corpsefucking it!" "Just had a great sammich for lunch!"
Report that, you frickin' fuckronauts. |
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| Block Party in Venice |
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| 01:35pm 23/06/2009 |
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mood: accomplished
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There was a block party on Breeze Ave. this weekend. Last year's was a pretty big success, with hundreds of people showing up and having a civilized but exuberant time. The only hitch last year was the cops, spreading some authoritarian jackassery by insisting that no one could stand out on the walk-up side of my street. (Breeze is an alley on the back, with the fronts of the buildings facing a walk-only path that leads to the beach.) Why did they insist on this? I can't think of anything reasonable, I suspect it was just general authoritarian grinchiness.
This year, on the other hand, was an entirely 'nother matter. We were trying to spend a quiet weekend at home while pyr8queen studies for the bar, but did step out to run some errands and get exercise. When we walked out during the block party, I only saw one or two actual neighbors, the rest of the people were what can best be described as "dirtbags". Venice is chock-a-block with dirtbags during the Summer. For the rest of the year our homeless are quite harmless, if a little spooky or kooky. But in the Summer, like ill-behaved birds migrating home to roost, we get a ton of dirty, substance-abusing young people probably on walkabout between college semesters. They squat in flocks on the beach, are loud and obstreperous, and frequently use our streets as a toilet. This is just life in Venice, however, and once school starts back up in the fall, they and their 40oz Coors Lites will return to whence they came.
But somehow, this crowd got wind of the block party, and was out in force. Walking through the crowd to go out to the car for dinner, I felt like Merry and Pippin in the Prancing Pony (in the movies, not the books) - a huge crowd of dirty, surly people standing around. When we returned the crowd was even rowdier, and as the night wore on, it got more and more shouty. Generally the bums in Venice are too stoned to be loud - they're busy agreeing with each other about how awesome each other's taste in music is or something. I approve of stoned bums. But drunken bums are prone to shouting and fighting and bellicosity. Some of them were up on the roof of my building, setting off a fire alarm that would not shut off. Others were directly in front of my apartment, and had an hours-long shouting match with each other. From time to time I'd peek out at them, to see dirtbags jabbing grimy fingers at each other, and shouting, shouting, shouting. At one point one of the neighbors from another building asked me "Did you see that?"
I said, "See what?"
He said, "Good, never mind. If you didn't see it, it doesn't matter."
It's a shame that drunken, shouting dirtbags actually made me miss the jackbooted thug-cops of the previous year. |
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| Wiifatso |
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| 11:22am 20/06/2009 |
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mood: accomplished
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While sitting around musing before getting up this morning, and somewhat inspired by daogre's ikillit.com , I had an idea.
It is not fully formed yet, much less fully realized, but it brings together several of my favorite things in order to defeat one of my least favorite things. I'm not ready to fully reveal my grand total plan, but I can give this hint: it involved registering the domain wiifatso.com, which as luck would have it, was not taken. |
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| I get to be me again |
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| 07:18pm 18/06/2009 |
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mood: accomplished
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I had my (hopefully) final foot doctor's appointment. I am cleared to be myself again. By which I mean, in increasing small increments, I can run, do Aikido, surf, and do all the other activities that in the past kept my head on straight and my gut from widening. Now it needs some narrowing. As well as my head with the straightening.
At any rate, this is a huge relief - the feets are on the mend. Surely the surgical procedure helped, but so too did wearing hard-soled shoes like Doc Martens, rather than sneaks or even "hiking sneakers" which are still soft-soled, and thus not sufficiently rigid to support my trotters. Not to mention my hippopatamic land-mass. |
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| Music Monday: Leonard Cohen Contrast Edition |
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| 08:59am 08/06/2009 |
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mood: accomplished
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I love Leonard Cohen. He fits the same place in my pantheon that Tom Waits does in others'; a poet of the wasteland, a beautiful nothingness, a gravelly, soulful bard of The Suck. Cohen's oeuvre is far more complicated than that, of course - and we can't forget his Bad Granddad obsession with beautiful women, long past a time when it's seemly for him either to indulge it, admit it, or especially celebrate it, as he does so often.
His voice is whisky, it's so smooth it burns, it's so harsh it soothes - and it's gotten mellower and deeper with age. Here's the official video of one of my favorite songs, "Dance Me To The End of Love" Embedding on youtube has been disable, so I provide here the link to the Official Video of "Dance Me To The End of Love" It's beautiful, and the song suits the simple video, which has a wedding video quality entirely appropriate to the subject.
Compare that to a more recent version, live. His voice is, impossibly, even deeper, even more gravelly (and gravely, for that matter) - and even more satisfying.
The world in which Leonard Cohen gets to have a great and storied musical career can't be too bad. |
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| Dithering and Simmering |
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| 07:34pm 26/05/2009 |
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mood: aggravated
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I'm always surprised to come home the day after a party to find a clean apartment. Far more people showed up than I expected, and for almost the first time, I don't have any leftovers! This is a shame, as the food was quite good, if I may say so myself. A random New Zealander musician who dropped in (friend of a friend) claimed my burgers were worth selling his soul to get, which was high praise indeed.
Currently I'm simmering and dithering - simmering because of the CA SC's decision on Prop 8. Reading the actual text of the decision it's not as disastrous as one might think, as all the privileges of being married are still afforded to same-sex couples, they're simply barred from calling it marriage. That still sucks, but it doesn't suck as mightily as it could. Naturally right wing bigots crawled out of the woodwork to support the decision. Thus I simmer. I still have yet to have one opponent of gay marriage explain to me how same-sex couples affects them at all, much less negatively. I do not understand, I ascribe it to futureshock and bigotry. And simmer.
I dither because I know I really ought to be working out. (Wii Active totally kicks my ass, and by the way, you don't need the balance board from Wii Fit to do it, though if you have it, it will integrate it.) Now I am done dithering; I have a couple of soul-destroying burgers to work off. I barely got to taste the smoked habanero ribs! |
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| Marshall. Cap'n. |
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| 09:39am 25/05/2009 |
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mood: amused
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On my way in to a nerdy event at a gaming convention, dressed like a pirate, I happened to pass by another fellow dressed like a cowboy. He was a tall and stocky middle-aged black man in a ten gallon hat, bandana around his neck, boots, spurs, and a black leather vest with a tin U.S. Marshall star.
As I passed him on the sidewalk I touched my tricorn hat and said, "Marshall." Without missing a beat, like an officer returning a salute he touched his Stetson and said, "Cap'n." |
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| May flowers |
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| 10:15am 19/05/2009 |
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May flowers
Originally uploaded by aghrivaine
June gloom is coming earlier every year. We're quite in the midst of it right now, and it's mid-May. Still, my neighborhood is exploding with flowers in bloom like day workers are piling up in the Home Depot parking lot.
It's easy to stop and notice the beautiful. Even if you weren't inclined to look, it's hard to miss the fragrance. Even the parking lot at work smells like a florist's funeral.
Los Angeles makes it easy to feel happy. It's not automatic, but she wants you to, and will help. |
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| Graduation |
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| 10:12am 18/05/2009 |
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Rebels
Originally uploaded by aghrivaine
Yesterday, pyr8queen graduated from Loyala Marymount School of Law.
The ceremony wasn't at the downtown law school campus, but at the main campus in Culver City just a few blocks from where I work. The day started cool and cloudy, but just in time for everyone to be seated for the commencement exercises, it burned off and was blazing hot.
So blazing hot, in fact, that Herself and her roommate felt that a post-JD fountain splash would be just the thing.
Congratulations for officially joining Society, and becoming a respected professional! Congratulations especially for completing three years of hard, unrelenting work. |
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