I know I don't update often. I go up and down. But I just have to share this.
I'm at a roleplaying session of a game called Exalted, and we're currently digging a gigantic hole. This hole was so huge that it sunk one of the nearby buildings, turns out it was one of the private libraries of the mayor, who also would have killed us on sight if he knew what we were. The mayor came out to complain at us.
What's funny is that the musical member of our group tried to distract things with a soothing song. Being a fan of roleplaying, he began by strumming his guitar and saying "You know, that reminds me of a song about libraries collapsing..."
And later, there was "Oh, sometimes you gotta crush the head of your rickshaw driver, and sometimes you gotta not kill the guy playing the guitar..."
Just felt that this was too funny not to tell y'all about.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
My Experiences So Far In NYC
All right, the poem wasn't that good.
New York City was, and is, a blast. In brief, I've been to Central Park, the Museum of Natural History, Little Italy, the Upright Citizen's Brigade Theater, Ground Zero, Radio City Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Rockefeller Center, Times Square, the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, the Garment District, Hell's Kitchen, the New York Times building, and a massive comics shop in Midtown (named Midtown Comics).
In length:
New York City cabbies are about as ridiculous as everyone says they are. Lanes are treated as mere suggestions, and the horn is indeed a surrogate for the brake pedal in many cases. Cabs miss other cars and people by mere inches. This was while I was in one (we've taken two), and they're even more intimidating outside. But they demonstrate such an unparalleled mastery of their vehicles that it really isn't that terrifying. They may miss me by an inch with their horn blaring all the while, but I still feel completely safe. Which is interesting. Rides with NYC cabbies are like two-dimensional roller coaster rides - you may go all over the place, but you don't feel like you're in any actual danger.
Restaurants in New York City are easily a cut above any other restaurants I've been to anywhere. Not that they're all superior, I've been to some REALLY nice restaurants, but in general, the average in NYC is much better than the average anywhere else. There was this Irish pub style place where we were still walking towards it at 6:00 - and had our meal, after appetizers, at 6:15. And it was delicious. I haven't had a bad meal since I've been here. I'm making a dedicated effort not to go to any place I've ever been to before, rationalizing that it's a waste to fly all the way to the Big Apple and eat at Subway.
The subway is at the same time enormously confusing and enormously useful. I can't help but think of it as described in some 1900s-esque period sci-fi novel where the protagonist, in the far-off year of 2000, sees a marvelous system of trains that go underground, that shuttle millions of people around every day, for a mere pittance. Once, we got lost and ended up in Brooklyn.
Central Park: We both agreed, my father and I, that it would be much more interesting in the spring when everything wasn't all withered and leafless. It was still pretty nice, but, y'know, everything's dead or hibernating. It's still forty degrees out. Not spring yet. There was a playground and a bunch of rocks to climb on, and the whole place was flanked with horses, making it practically impossible to get in for me.
Museum of Natural History: Awesome. Dinosaur skeletons, a planetarium show, a butterfly exhibit where we got to mingle with hundreds of butterflies. It was 80 degrees and 80% humidity inside the butterfly enclosure. People were panting, sweating, complaining, wiping their foreheads, I just shrugged and said that this is my existence for four or five months out of the year.
Little Italy: Practically invisible to us until we found twelve or thirteen Italian restaurants in a two-block diameter. The one we went to was excellent. I actually had manicotti with sauce, and enjoyed it. See? New York City is broadening my horizons. I may yet embrace sauce.
The Upright Citizen's Brigade Theater: An improv theater, a small underground place (literally and figuratively). We went for two hours of the most gut-bustingly hilarious improv I've ever seen, that blows any Whose Line? sketches out of the friggin' water. Well, maybe not Sound Effects.
Ground Zero: Sad. Full of construction. Apparently they're building a new building that'll be some sort of memorial, or maybe a replacement, I wasn't too clear on the details.
Radio City Hall, Carnegie Hall, Rockefeller Center: Were closed. Or unavailable. We stopped outside, oohed and aahed, then left.
Times Square: As big and flashy as I've ever seen it. I tried and failed to pinpoint the exact location where the sailor kissed the nurse in that famous photograph (if you don't know which photograph I'm talking about, get a friggin' clue and look it up, it won a Pulitzer for God's sake). We got to see a fight between two big guys, which the police broke up relatively quickly. My father started counting when the first punch was thrown; the police showed up 32 seconds later. Commendably fast. Giuliani really did make a difference.
The Statue of Liberty: Did you know that the copper exterior of the Statue is only as thick as two coins? Most of it is an iron frame. Anyway, not much to say - it was a statue, it was impressive, the gift shop shilled it for everything it was worth. The ferry ride over and back was fun. Plus, New York's feral seagulls and evil pigeons duked it out for bread crumbs. That was entertainment in and of itself.
Wall Street: I didn't get to see any of the fun parts of Wall Street, you know, with lots of smartly besuited people waving bits of paper and shouting their lungs out. Apparently that's forbidden to the public. I got some good pictures in front of the New York Stock Exchange building, though.
The Garment District: Lives up to its name. Holy crap, are there ever a lot of clothes stores. There was one Macy's that dwarfed any department store I've ever seen. (Maybe Harrod's in England was bigger. I really couldn't say, it's been nigh on a decade.) I didn't end up buying anything, though.
Hell's Kitchen: Did not live up to its name. Wasn't really that terrifying, to be honest. There was a flea market, at which I bought some VHS tapes my father will convert into DVDs for me, since I possess no VHS player.
The New York Times Building: Got a picture in front of it with me rolling my eyes derisively. Stupid New York Times. They charge $5.00 for a Sunday edition that's two-thirds advertisements and wonder why they're losing business.
Midtown Comics: I now have a reason to live in New York City, and that reason is this store.
Overall, I'm loving it, and I'll visit other things like Fifth Avenue and the Empire State Building later in the week. I definitely want to move here after law school. It'll be fun!
New York City was, and is, a blast. In brief, I've been to Central Park, the Museum of Natural History, Little Italy, the Upright Citizen's Brigade Theater, Ground Zero, Radio City Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Rockefeller Center, Times Square, the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, the Garment District, Hell's Kitchen, the New York Times building, and a massive comics shop in Midtown (named Midtown Comics).
In length:
New York City cabbies are about as ridiculous as everyone says they are. Lanes are treated as mere suggestions, and the horn is indeed a surrogate for the brake pedal in many cases. Cabs miss other cars and people by mere inches. This was while I was in one (we've taken two), and they're even more intimidating outside. But they demonstrate such an unparalleled mastery of their vehicles that it really isn't that terrifying. They may miss me by an inch with their horn blaring all the while, but I still feel completely safe. Which is interesting. Rides with NYC cabbies are like two-dimensional roller coaster rides - you may go all over the place, but you don't feel like you're in any actual danger.
Restaurants in New York City are easily a cut above any other restaurants I've been to anywhere. Not that they're all superior, I've been to some REALLY nice restaurants, but in general, the average in NYC is much better than the average anywhere else. There was this Irish pub style place where we were still walking towards it at 6:00 - and had our meal, after appetizers, at 6:15. And it was delicious. I haven't had a bad meal since I've been here. I'm making a dedicated effort not to go to any place I've ever been to before, rationalizing that it's a waste to fly all the way to the Big Apple and eat at Subway.
The subway is at the same time enormously confusing and enormously useful. I can't help but think of it as described in some 1900s-esque period sci-fi novel where the protagonist, in the far-off year of 2000, sees a marvelous system of trains that go underground, that shuttle millions of people around every day, for a mere pittance. Once, we got lost and ended up in Brooklyn.
Central Park: We both agreed, my father and I, that it would be much more interesting in the spring when everything wasn't all withered and leafless. It was still pretty nice, but, y'know, everything's dead or hibernating. It's still forty degrees out. Not spring yet. There was a playground and a bunch of rocks to climb on, and the whole place was flanked with horses, making it practically impossible to get in for me.
Museum of Natural History: Awesome. Dinosaur skeletons, a planetarium show, a butterfly exhibit where we got to mingle with hundreds of butterflies. It was 80 degrees and 80% humidity inside the butterfly enclosure. People were panting, sweating, complaining, wiping their foreheads, I just shrugged and said that this is my existence for four or five months out of the year.
Little Italy: Practically invisible to us until we found twelve or thirteen Italian restaurants in a two-block diameter. The one we went to was excellent. I actually had manicotti with sauce, and enjoyed it. See? New York City is broadening my horizons. I may yet embrace sauce.
The Upright Citizen's Brigade Theater: An improv theater, a small underground place (literally and figuratively). We went for two hours of the most gut-bustingly hilarious improv I've ever seen, that blows any Whose Line? sketches out of the friggin' water. Well, maybe not Sound Effects.
Ground Zero: Sad. Full of construction. Apparently they're building a new building that'll be some sort of memorial, or maybe a replacement, I wasn't too clear on the details.
Radio City Hall, Carnegie Hall, Rockefeller Center: Were closed. Or unavailable. We stopped outside, oohed and aahed, then left.
Times Square: As big and flashy as I've ever seen it. I tried and failed to pinpoint the exact location where the sailor kissed the nurse in that famous photograph (if you don't know which photograph I'm talking about, get a friggin' clue and look it up, it won a Pulitzer for God's sake). We got to see a fight between two big guys, which the police broke up relatively quickly. My father started counting when the first punch was thrown; the police showed up 32 seconds later. Commendably fast. Giuliani really did make a difference.
The Statue of Liberty: Did you know that the copper exterior of the Statue is only as thick as two coins? Most of it is an iron frame. Anyway, not much to say - it was a statue, it was impressive, the gift shop shilled it for everything it was worth. The ferry ride over and back was fun. Plus, New York's feral seagulls and evil pigeons duked it out for bread crumbs. That was entertainment in and of itself.
Wall Street: I didn't get to see any of the fun parts of Wall Street, you know, with lots of smartly besuited people waving bits of paper and shouting their lungs out. Apparently that's forbidden to the public. I got some good pictures in front of the New York Stock Exchange building, though.
The Garment District: Lives up to its name. Holy crap, are there ever a lot of clothes stores. There was one Macy's that dwarfed any department store I've ever seen. (Maybe Harrod's in England was bigger. I really couldn't say, it's been nigh on a decade.) I didn't end up buying anything, though.
Hell's Kitchen: Did not live up to its name. Wasn't really that terrifying, to be honest. There was a flea market, at which I bought some VHS tapes my father will convert into DVDs for me, since I possess no VHS player.
The New York Times Building: Got a picture in front of it with me rolling my eyes derisively. Stupid New York Times. They charge $5.00 for a Sunday edition that's two-thirds advertisements and wonder why they're losing business.
Midtown Comics: I now have a reason to live in New York City, and that reason is this store.
Overall, I'm loving it, and I'll visit other things like Fifth Avenue and the Empire State Building later in the week. I definitely want to move here after law school. It'll be fun!
Monday, February 23, 2009
I Wrote A Narrative Double Sonnet
I was assigned in my poetry class to write a narrative double sonnet that's a retelling of a famous myth or legend. I chose the myth of Icarus. I followed the Shakespearean rules for sonnets - 28 lines, a-b-a-b-c-d-c-d-e-f-e-f-g-g rhyming, in iambic pentameter. Tell me what you think.
A sparkling wave broke forth across the sea
Lashing and foaming, pounding far below
As Icarus stood, small heart filled with glee,
At all the great lengths Daedalus might go
To gain their freedom. Great wings, wide and proud,
All flighted with the feathers of those birds
(Except, i’faith, he should have wove a shroud,)
Whose clarion calls could every day be heard
Across the island. Daedalus called heed
To his young sun, snapped his fingers fast,
He bade him listen to his words of need,
“Flap not too high, lest that flap be your last.”
Fixed Icarus with flutt’ring wings, quite light,
Kissed him once more, then both of them took flight.
The sun upon their faces warmed their heart
More than their bodies. The cold ocean spray
Would often foam up, forcing them apart
With bitter, icy fingers. The boy’s play
Took them into a squawking flock of gulls
Enraged at this invasion of their space,
They drove old Daedalus down near ships’ hulls
While Icarus soared up to the sun’s face,
But then, the sun, cruel master that it is,
Shined down its burning rays with terrible strength,
Melting the wings of poor young Icarus
Robbing his flight of its remaining length.
He plunged into the unforgiving sea,
The birds, still heedless, flapped away, still free.
A sparkling wave broke forth across the sea
Lashing and foaming, pounding far below
As Icarus stood, small heart filled with glee,
At all the great lengths Daedalus might go
To gain their freedom. Great wings, wide and proud,
All flighted with the feathers of those birds
(Except, i’faith, he should have wove a shroud,)
Whose clarion calls could every day be heard
Across the island. Daedalus called heed
To his young sun, snapped his fingers fast,
He bade him listen to his words of need,
“Flap not too high, lest that flap be your last.”
Fixed Icarus with flutt’ring wings, quite light,
Kissed him once more, then both of them took flight.
The sun upon their faces warmed their heart
More than their bodies. The cold ocean spray
Would often foam up, forcing them apart
With bitter, icy fingers. The boy’s play
Took them into a squawking flock of gulls
Enraged at this invasion of their space,
They drove old Daedalus down near ships’ hulls
While Icarus soared up to the sun’s face,
But then, the sun, cruel master that it is,
Shined down its burning rays with terrible strength,
Melting the wings of poor young Icarus
Robbing his flight of its remaining length.
He plunged into the unforgiving sea,
The birds, still heedless, flapped away, still free.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
My Web Site Is Actually Online Now
Originally this post was called something like "So My Web Site Will Be Online Very Soon," but then I checked my email and my instructor had put it online already. So here it is:
http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/homepages/s09/moreau%5Fl/
For best results, view in Firefox, it loses some of its luster when it goes to Internet Explorer. It's very basic, but I built it myself and it is mine. And it's not that bad.
I remember being terrified when I finally finished it then ran it through an XHTML validator, and got back like 25 errors per page. Fortunately, most of them were just that I forgot to close one tag and then it just caused errors to cascade. I had to make a total of like five fixes to solve 100+ errors.
http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/homepages/s09/moreau%5Fl/
For best results, view in Firefox, it loses some of its luster when it goes to Internet Explorer. It's very basic, but I built it myself and it is mine. And it's not that bad.
I remember being terrified when I finally finished it then ran it through an XHTML validator, and got back like 25 errors per page. Fortunately, most of them were just that I forgot to close one tag and then it just caused errors to cascade. I had to make a total of like five fixes to solve 100+ errors.
And I think I'll get a decent grade on it, so I'm in a good mood. And Megacon is next weekend, so I'm in a better mood. And a friend of mine just got something she's wanted for a very long time, so I'm in a great mood.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
I Built A Web Site
Tremble with fear, brief mortals, for now I have a basic competency with XHTML and CSS. I used it to build a Web site for class, which I'm handing in in, oh...an hour and a half.
It has pictures, and borders (I do so love the border declaration), and humorous title tags on each and every picture. And a background made of bubbles. Since I have absolutely no way to host it, though, I can't show it to you, at least until I get back home or go to Megacon or something.
Rest assured, it's decent-looking. I'm actually kind of proud of it.
It has pictures, and borders (I do so love the border declaration), and humorous title tags on each and every picture. And a background made of bubbles. Since I have absolutely no way to host it, though, I can't show it to you, at least until I get back home or go to Megacon or something.
Rest assured, it's decent-looking. I'm actually kind of proud of it.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Between Classes
I was looking at the tuition for UF's law school. $10,800 a year for residents. Blech. And here I was hoping I could get out of college without owing tens of thousands of dollars in student loans.
But the average salary for UF law school graduates in their first year was $72,000, so that makes me feel a little better. Those loans'll go away in no time.
My stomach is feeling fine. I have class in a few minutes. I can't wait for Megacon, I already ordered the trench coat and am going to the mall this afternoon for the hat, scarf, and gloves. May have to order the gloves online...I hope not.
But the average salary for UF law school graduates in their first year was $72,000, so that makes me feel a little better. Those loans'll go away in no time.
My stomach is feeling fine. I have class in a few minutes. I can't wait for Megacon, I already ordered the trench coat and am going to the mall this afternoon for the hat, scarf, and gloves. May have to order the gloves online...I hope not.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Oh Really?
Just because I go a little while - a little while packed with drama and intrigue and crap, mind - without responding doesn't mean I'm gone.
I'm still here.
In fact I was in town this weekend. I can only assume that the last person to comment was someone who knows me from home. Well, I was there.
But, uh, yeah. Last few days have been pretty crazy - I couldn't think of anything but what was happening. Lots of drama.
Right. Stomach hurts. Gotta take a shower. Gotta write this stupid proposal.
I'm still here.
In fact I was in town this weekend. I can only assume that the last person to comment was someone who knows me from home. Well, I was there.
But, uh, yeah. Last few days have been pretty crazy - I couldn't think of anything but what was happening. Lots of drama.
Right. Stomach hurts. Gotta take a shower. Gotta write this stupid proposal.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Microposting - The Method of the Future
Microposts. Small posts that describe how I'm feeling at any given moment as opposed to big huge updates. Hopefully more frequent. Sentence fragments abound.
In class right now. Should be paying attention. Stomach hurts. Has been doing so last few days. What's with that?
Assignment due at 4:00 today. Damn everything. I need to do these things sooner.
In class right now. Should be paying attention. Stomach hurts. Has been doing so last few days. What's with that?
Assignment due at 4:00 today. Damn everything. I need to do these things sooner.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
My Thoughts, Such As They Are
My head hurts, a bit. Can't really say why.
Tired.
I have something due every day starting tomorrow until Wednesday...no, Thursday, since that day I have a test. It's a bit grating on the nerves. Maybe at one point I'll actually have a look at what any of it is. (Joking.)
I'm watching a friend of mine play Spore, this sort of weird evolution-civilization game. You can start with a single cell and end with an intergalactic civilization, with all the steps more-or-less well-documented on the way.
I must confess to having a bit of writer's block, but Jamie (the aforementioned friend) is adamant that I update. Not that I've ever known him to read it before, but there we are. So, basically, he's telling me to update something he barely knows exists.
Now he's eating my candy.
It's bad enough that, in my ignorance, I decided to go to Red Lobster that morning, and I couldn't very well leave Jamie to languish at home while I ate Red Lobster, so I brought him along, and decided that hey, I'm under food budget for the week, I'll take care of this.
I don't even want to think about the cost. What I do want to think about was that it was one of the greatest meals of my life. Because of circumstances that probably fall squarely into a crushing lack of lobster in my life, I found myself making the interesting lifestyle choice: ordering two one and one-quarter pound lobsters because it was slightly cheaper than ordering one three-pound lobster, and anyway this way I'd get two helpings of everything I liked.
This after mozzarella sticks and a big shrimp cocktail. And three of those famous Red Lobster cheesy buttery biscuits.
I ate everything. My God, was I hungry.
More later.
It's later now.
No, all that did not fit into my food budget. I got...overexuberant. And hungry. Let's not forget the hunger. I went grossly over-budget. Let me put it this way...I exceeded what is normally my budget for the whole week on one meal.
But it was worth every penny because it was delicious.
Anyway, I just ordered the hotel rooms for Megacon. Four rooms. Two for guys, one for girls (because some of the girls coming insisted, I say, whatever floats yer boats), one for my parents who like to come as well. And I have got to get my measurement taken for that dumb trenchcoat.
And I've got to stop spending money so recklessly. Seriously. I must cut back majorly or face poverty.
Tired.
I have something due every day starting tomorrow until Wednesday...no, Thursday, since that day I have a test. It's a bit grating on the nerves. Maybe at one point I'll actually have a look at what any of it is. (Joking.)
I'm watching a friend of mine play Spore, this sort of weird evolution-civilization game. You can start with a single cell and end with an intergalactic civilization, with all the steps more-or-less well-documented on the way.
I must confess to having a bit of writer's block, but Jamie (the aforementioned friend) is adamant that I update. Not that I've ever known him to read it before, but there we are. So, basically, he's telling me to update something he barely knows exists.
Now he's eating my candy.
It's bad enough that, in my ignorance, I decided to go to Red Lobster that morning, and I couldn't very well leave Jamie to languish at home while I ate Red Lobster, so I brought him along, and decided that hey, I'm under food budget for the week, I'll take care of this.
I don't even want to think about the cost. What I do want to think about was that it was one of the greatest meals of my life. Because of circumstances that probably fall squarely into a crushing lack of lobster in my life, I found myself making the interesting lifestyle choice: ordering two one and one-quarter pound lobsters because it was slightly cheaper than ordering one three-pound lobster, and anyway this way I'd get two helpings of everything I liked.
This after mozzarella sticks and a big shrimp cocktail. And three of those famous Red Lobster cheesy buttery biscuits.
I ate everything. My God, was I hungry.
More later.
It's later now.
No, all that did not fit into my food budget. I got...overexuberant. And hungry. Let's not forget the hunger. I went grossly over-budget. Let me put it this way...I exceeded what is normally my budget for the whole week on one meal.
But it was worth every penny because it was delicious.
Anyway, I just ordered the hotel rooms for Megacon. Four rooms. Two for guys, one for girls (because some of the girls coming insisted, I say, whatever floats yer boats), one for my parents who like to come as well. And I have got to get my measurement taken for that dumb trenchcoat.
And I've got to stop spending money so recklessly. Seriously. I must cut back majorly or face poverty.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Yes, Yes, I'm Still Alive
But don't worry. As long as I know how to love, I know I'm still alive. I have all my life to live, why I - okay, forget it.
I'm making this post standing out in the rather chilly weather wearing only a T-shirt and my exercise shorts (and soggy shoes) with my computer on top of a newspaper dispenser, for a series of rather excellent reasons which I will elaborate upon in due time. But first.
Yes, I didn't update for a month. But for three weeks of that month, I was home, where 90% of my reader base lives! They sort of knew what was going on. Lots of fuss over my sister's baby, lots of games of Smash and Left 4 Dead, all that sort of thing. To those who may be following the exploits of this blog over the Internet...sorry, but I honestly don't know if you exist or not. It's tough to write to an audience that you may or may not believe in. It's like an agnostic praying to God...he's not entirely sure if he's just making a fool of himself to no effect.
So. Couple of big things happened recently, notably among those being that - Oh, bugger this, I don't care that I'm going to get all wet, I have to find a seat. This standing position is irritating the bejeezus out of me. Stand by.
*moves*
...Why did I go to all that trouble? It's not as if I'm updating in real-time. Oh, well. This is supposed to be a sort of stream-of-consciousness endeavor anyway.
Anyway. Notably among those being that my university's football team, the Gators, won the national championship 24-14. Go us. Woot. I went to see the game at the O'Connell Center, the big basketball stadium, wherein they had the game playing on a bunch of big-screens strategically arranged around the place. It was tense stuff for the first three-quarters of the game - at the end of the first half, the score was 7-7, and this from two teams who regularly scored over twenty or thirty points in the first quarter. On two separate occasions, the Gator defense stopped the opposing team from scoring at the 1-yard line. That's hot. That's hot like fire.
Afterwards, me and the big group of friends I had gone to the stadium with went out to University Avenue, where more or less the entire student population of Gainesville had turned out to celebrate. In classic form, the streets were one giant mosh pit, and we were forced to hold hands or link arms to stay together. People were throwing rolls of toilet paper (good stuff! Two-ply! Cushioned! Why waste it when there's an inexhaustible supply of cardboard-quality crud from the dorms, I ask you?) and a few brave souls were lighting fireworks. There were the usual people dancing on awnings, a handful of idiots trying to climb the light poles (which the Gainesville police had thoughtfully greased to prevent this, see how well that turned out), and the big crossing where all the restaurants were was the fullest I've ever seen it.
It took us twenty damn minutes to cross the street. And we were lucky. Well, most of us were lucky. My part in the human chain was unfortunately broken when an avalanche of people decided to smash through the chain, just behind me. I lost my link with John, because to be frank, it was him or my arm, and my arm couldn't very well call me an hour later or meet me in the morning if I lost it.
It was very dramatic, though. I stretched out my hand, movie style, and cried out "JOHHHHHNNN!!!" He similarly extended his arm and bellowed "LUUUUUKE!" But then the crowd swallowed him.
"I lost John!" I yelled to Steve, who was ahead of me.
"Shit!" he growled. "We can't stop. We have to keep moving!"
"But John's still back there!" I roared.
"We don't have the time! He's gone, leave him!" Steve snapped. "If we try to get him, we'll be lost too! Now move!"
With a heavy heart, I continued. We finally made it through the scrum (or maybe it was a fracas?), whereupon several of us tried to call John (and Rachel, who was behind him when we were separated), to obviously no avail. I mean, hearing one's cell phone in the middle of that mob? Not a chance. Disconsolate at losing some of our group (and quite unfairly blaming me, what was I supposed to do? Use my Go-Go-Gadget-Arms to haul him in?), we made our way through the back streets of Gainesville, until he called us fifteen minutes later and said he'd meet us at the Krispy Kreme. Which he did.
Then we split three boxes of donuts. Since there were twelve of us, it worked out rather well. Most of us went home after, a few of us splintered off and came back to my apartment so we could beat up my roommate Zack, who had preferred to stay indoors and play World of WarCraft instead. (Mental note: Though this is mean to say, it's true - whenever I need an impetus to get off my arse and get out and meet new people, I imagine ending up like Zack, and I get in gear. He seems to be okay with being antisocial, though, so whatever.) We didn't actually beat him up, but we gave him a stern talking-to.
Oh yes, that reminds me. I had tried to convince him to come with us, using the only terms I thought reasonable:
"Zack, think of it this way. Think of it like...like the student body is a faction, and you need to grind reputation with them by doing a bunch of quests. Now, you may not like these quests, they may be onerous and difficult to handle, but you stick with them because there are some absolutely awesome rewards waiting as soon as you're the right rep level. Sure, grinding rep sucks, but think of what awaits you."
He didn't go for it. Too bad, his loss. I did the best I could.
That was Thursday...not much happened of note Friday or Saturday, Saturday was mostly spent making up a character for this BESM campaign my friend David is running. BESM is another RPG like Vampire, anime-styled, BESM standing for Big Eyes, Small Mouth, in the traditional anime drawing style. Our party consists of:
The silent assassin who can use illusions, invisibility, and mind-control to strike unseen and kill opponents before they even know she's there.
The angel who can call down holy fire and heal the wounds of others, in addition to having totally awesome wings and a force-shield.
The buffing specialist who has no powers of his own, but can elevate the powers of others to absurd levels. Absurd even for anime. Imagine.
The telekinetic whose misanthropy was upgraded by years of horrible genetic splicing, magical injection, and experimentation mixed with torture into full-blown genocidal mania, who wants to see every person in the world dead including himself. But his powers won't let him kill himself, so he kills everyone else instead.
The 99-year-old man who doesn't have that many actual powers, but has an unbelievable amount of knowledge in the oddest subjects (Knowledge - Region - North Mexico, Sculpting, Mechanical Engineering, all that sort of thing), and who is ageless.
Which of these characters do you think is mine? I'll mention at the end, so stay on tenterhooks (unless of course you just want to skip to the end and see, you horrible person you). Oh, and I've been known to play female characters, so don't immediately discount the assassin.
Anyway...boring stuff aside, oh yeah, Friday I went and got some blood sucked out of my body, and then put back in, minus my plasma. Gruesome stuff, but I got twenty-five bucks, and I'll go back tomorrow (Monday) for forty-five more. So, good news there. I need some extra spending cash, and this is the most convenient way to do it that doesn't involve actually (gasp!) working.
...I can hear bats above me. Makes sense, given the enormous bathouse that's not far from where I am. Oh, right, you probably wanted to hear the story about why I'm here and dressed like this. Well.
Today sucked. Absolutely horrible. It was gray, clouding, and rainy all day, and nobody was available to do anything, so I mostly sat inside, cooked meals, and messed about on the Internet. When I had to go out to pick up an ingredient for dinner, the rain, which had been a gentle mist for three hours at that point, suddenly upgraded into a fierce downpour which soaked me over and back. This rendered my last pair of clean pants soaked. So now I have to do laundry. Tonight. *sigh* (Hey, a whole paragraph without using parentheses. ...Poop.)
As to compound things, our Internet connection failed earlier this evening. It was actually kind of amusing - all three of us (me, Mike, Zack) came wandering out of our rooms, complaining about the Internet, sort of confused and sad that our primary form of entertainment was gone...bumping into walls, bursting into tears, falling down stairs, losing ourselves in apathy and despair. Well, maybe not, but we did all stand around in the hallway like dopes for a few minutes, trying to grasp the enormity of the situation.
It was about half an hour ago, maybe forty-five minutes, that I realized I had set a skill to train in EVE Online (the new online game I'm into), and that EVE has this annoying thing about skill training not doing the logical thing and proceeding to the next level of training once one level is done training. Since high-level skills take days or even weeks to train in EVE, I didn't want to waste the whole evening or more not training, so I grabbed the laptop and the only pair of below-the-waist clothing I owned that was still clean and trudged out to campus, where I could access the wireless network.
Which is how I'm posting. Aren't you glad to hear the end of that story? If I go back and the Internet is still down, I'll...probably go to sleep, I have class in the morning, but I'll be very put out. I hope it's back up by tomorrow afternoon. Like...really.
Oh, I'm the telekinetic character. I would mention this later, but I put it here just in case anyone actually did skip to the end to see which character I am. And stop staring, it's good for the blood to play an absolute psychopath every so often. Besides, his general lack of caring towards his personal well-being being what it is, he'll probably get himself killed before he can inflict too much damage.
Ugh. I gained back all the weight I lost when I was on the gym and running kick I was on that one time. I need to start doing that again. That probably means I won't be able to sell plasma...can't drain all the blood from my body and then go running three miles that evening. Le sigh. I'll at least do it for these first couple of weeks so I get the lucrative startup pay. I did recall that I should be calling Jamie and asking him if he knew someone at the hospital who knew where there were sperm banks in Gainesville...? I can do THAT and go running, by cracky.
Right. Now that I've put that image in y'all's heads, it's time for me to head back to my apartment. Night. I promise to update more often.
You DID just skip to the end, didn't you. Is finding out which character I'm playing so important that you don't want to read anything else I've written? Or is it all that boring? Well, I'm not saying. Go through and actually read the damn post. It'll be good for you.
I'm making this post standing out in the rather chilly weather wearing only a T-shirt and my exercise shorts (and soggy shoes) with my computer on top of a newspaper dispenser, for a series of rather excellent reasons which I will elaborate upon in due time. But first.
Yes, I didn't update for a month. But for three weeks of that month, I was home, where 90% of my reader base lives! They sort of knew what was going on. Lots of fuss over my sister's baby, lots of games of Smash and Left 4 Dead, all that sort of thing. To those who may be following the exploits of this blog over the Internet...sorry, but I honestly don't know if you exist or not. It's tough to write to an audience that you may or may not believe in. It's like an agnostic praying to God...he's not entirely sure if he's just making a fool of himself to no effect.
So. Couple of big things happened recently, notably among those being that - Oh, bugger this, I don't care that I'm going to get all wet, I have to find a seat. This standing position is irritating the bejeezus out of me. Stand by.
*moves*
...Why did I go to all that trouble? It's not as if I'm updating in real-time. Oh, well. This is supposed to be a sort of stream-of-consciousness endeavor anyway.
Anyway. Notably among those being that my university's football team, the Gators, won the national championship 24-14. Go us. Woot. I went to see the game at the O'Connell Center, the big basketball stadium, wherein they had the game playing on a bunch of big-screens strategically arranged around the place. It was tense stuff for the first three-quarters of the game - at the end of the first half, the score was 7-7, and this from two teams who regularly scored over twenty or thirty points in the first quarter. On two separate occasions, the Gator defense stopped the opposing team from scoring at the 1-yard line. That's hot. That's hot like fire.
Afterwards, me and the big group of friends I had gone to the stadium with went out to University Avenue, where more or less the entire student population of Gainesville had turned out to celebrate. In classic form, the streets were one giant mosh pit, and we were forced to hold hands or link arms to stay together. People were throwing rolls of toilet paper (good stuff! Two-ply! Cushioned! Why waste it when there's an inexhaustible supply of cardboard-quality crud from the dorms, I ask you?) and a few brave souls were lighting fireworks. There were the usual people dancing on awnings, a handful of idiots trying to climb the light poles (which the Gainesville police had thoughtfully greased to prevent this, see how well that turned out), and the big crossing where all the restaurants were was the fullest I've ever seen it.
It took us twenty damn minutes to cross the street. And we were lucky. Well, most of us were lucky. My part in the human chain was unfortunately broken when an avalanche of people decided to smash through the chain, just behind me. I lost my link with John, because to be frank, it was him or my arm, and my arm couldn't very well call me an hour later or meet me in the morning if I lost it.
It was very dramatic, though. I stretched out my hand, movie style, and cried out "JOHHHHHNNN!!!" He similarly extended his arm and bellowed "LUUUUUKE!" But then the crowd swallowed him.
"I lost John!" I yelled to Steve, who was ahead of me.
"Shit!" he growled. "We can't stop. We have to keep moving!"
"But John's still back there!" I roared.
"We don't have the time! He's gone, leave him!" Steve snapped. "If we try to get him, we'll be lost too! Now move!"
With a heavy heart, I continued. We finally made it through the scrum (or maybe it was a fracas?), whereupon several of us tried to call John (and Rachel, who was behind him when we were separated), to obviously no avail. I mean, hearing one's cell phone in the middle of that mob? Not a chance. Disconsolate at losing some of our group (and quite unfairly blaming me, what was I supposed to do? Use my Go-Go-Gadget-Arms to haul him in?), we made our way through the back streets of Gainesville, until he called us fifteen minutes later and said he'd meet us at the Krispy Kreme. Which he did.
Then we split three boxes of donuts. Since there were twelve of us, it worked out rather well. Most of us went home after, a few of us splintered off and came back to my apartment so we could beat up my roommate Zack, who had preferred to stay indoors and play World of WarCraft instead. (Mental note: Though this is mean to say, it's true - whenever I need an impetus to get off my arse and get out and meet new people, I imagine ending up like Zack, and I get in gear. He seems to be okay with being antisocial, though, so whatever.) We didn't actually beat him up, but we gave him a stern talking-to.
Oh yes, that reminds me. I had tried to convince him to come with us, using the only terms I thought reasonable:
"Zack, think of it this way. Think of it like...like the student body is a faction, and you need to grind reputation with them by doing a bunch of quests. Now, you may not like these quests, they may be onerous and difficult to handle, but you stick with them because there are some absolutely awesome rewards waiting as soon as you're the right rep level. Sure, grinding rep sucks, but think of what awaits you."
He didn't go for it. Too bad, his loss. I did the best I could.
That was Thursday...not much happened of note Friday or Saturday, Saturday was mostly spent making up a character for this BESM campaign my friend David is running. BESM is another RPG like Vampire, anime-styled, BESM standing for Big Eyes, Small Mouth, in the traditional anime drawing style. Our party consists of:
The silent assassin who can use illusions, invisibility, and mind-control to strike unseen and kill opponents before they even know she's there.
The angel who can call down holy fire and heal the wounds of others, in addition to having totally awesome wings and a force-shield.
The buffing specialist who has no powers of his own, but can elevate the powers of others to absurd levels. Absurd even for anime. Imagine.
The telekinetic whose misanthropy was upgraded by years of horrible genetic splicing, magical injection, and experimentation mixed with torture into full-blown genocidal mania, who wants to see every person in the world dead including himself. But his powers won't let him kill himself, so he kills everyone else instead.
The 99-year-old man who doesn't have that many actual powers, but has an unbelievable amount of knowledge in the oddest subjects (Knowledge - Region - North Mexico, Sculpting, Mechanical Engineering, all that sort of thing), and who is ageless.
Which of these characters do you think is mine? I'll mention at the end, so stay on tenterhooks (unless of course you just want to skip to the end and see, you horrible person you). Oh, and I've been known to play female characters, so don't immediately discount the assassin.
Anyway...boring stuff aside, oh yeah, Friday I went and got some blood sucked out of my body, and then put back in, minus my plasma. Gruesome stuff, but I got twenty-five bucks, and I'll go back tomorrow (Monday) for forty-five more. So, good news there. I need some extra spending cash, and this is the most convenient way to do it that doesn't involve actually (gasp!) working.
...I can hear bats above me. Makes sense, given the enormous bathouse that's not far from where I am. Oh, right, you probably wanted to hear the story about why I'm here and dressed like this. Well.
Today sucked. Absolutely horrible. It was gray, clouding, and rainy all day, and nobody was available to do anything, so I mostly sat inside, cooked meals, and messed about on the Internet. When I had to go out to pick up an ingredient for dinner, the rain, which had been a gentle mist for three hours at that point, suddenly upgraded into a fierce downpour which soaked me over and back. This rendered my last pair of clean pants soaked. So now I have to do laundry. Tonight. *sigh* (Hey, a whole paragraph without using parentheses. ...Poop.)
As to compound things, our Internet connection failed earlier this evening. It was actually kind of amusing - all three of us (me, Mike, Zack) came wandering out of our rooms, complaining about the Internet, sort of confused and sad that our primary form of entertainment was gone...bumping into walls, bursting into tears, falling down stairs, losing ourselves in apathy and despair. Well, maybe not, but we did all stand around in the hallway like dopes for a few minutes, trying to grasp the enormity of the situation.
It was about half an hour ago, maybe forty-five minutes, that I realized I had set a skill to train in EVE Online (the new online game I'm into), and that EVE has this annoying thing about skill training not doing the logical thing and proceeding to the next level of training once one level is done training. Since high-level skills take days or even weeks to train in EVE, I didn't want to waste the whole evening or more not training, so I grabbed the laptop and the only pair of below-the-waist clothing I owned that was still clean and trudged out to campus, where I could access the wireless network.
Which is how I'm posting. Aren't you glad to hear the end of that story? If I go back and the Internet is still down, I'll...probably go to sleep, I have class in the morning, but I'll be very put out. I hope it's back up by tomorrow afternoon. Like...really.
Oh, I'm the telekinetic character. I would mention this later, but I put it here just in case anyone actually did skip to the end to see which character I am. And stop staring, it's good for the blood to play an absolute psychopath every so often. Besides, his general lack of caring towards his personal well-being being what it is, he'll probably get himself killed before he can inflict too much damage.
Ugh. I gained back all the weight I lost when I was on the gym and running kick I was on that one time. I need to start doing that again. That probably means I won't be able to sell plasma...can't drain all the blood from my body and then go running three miles that evening. Le sigh. I'll at least do it for these first couple of weeks so I get the lucrative startup pay. I did recall that I should be calling Jamie and asking him if he knew someone at the hospital who knew where there were sperm banks in Gainesville...? I can do THAT and go running, by cracky.
Right. Now that I've put that image in y'all's heads, it's time for me to head back to my apartment. Night. I promise to update more often.
You DID just skip to the end, didn't you. Is finding out which character I'm playing so important that you don't want to read anything else I've written? Or is it all that boring? Well, I'm not saying. Go through and actually read the damn post. It'll be good for you.
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