I think we can all agree that when you put the following question on a multiple choice exam:
24. Nathan Hale said, “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country,” before he
a. was hanged by the British
b. starved to death in Valley Forge
c. jumped off a bridge
d. was eaten by a pack of wild dogs
... it is a sign that it's time to stop writing exams and go do... something else.
So we decided to create our own B*G drinking game. (We're about halfway through Season 3 on our re-watch.) This is what we have so far.
When watching Battlestar Galactica at 2201, you must take a drink when:
* Adama takes off or puts on his glasses dramatically.
* Helo is being a douche. (Normally I hate this expression. No one douches anymore, rendering it a pretty obsolete insult. And most of the guys I know who say "douchebag" could not in fact tell you what a douchebag is. Yet "douche-y" is a strangely fitting description for Helo's behavior. So I am allowing it.)
* Tigh growls.
* Someone talks to a Head-Person.
* The AdamaStache is on screen (including flashbacks).
* Dr. Cottle chainsmokes in sick bay.
* The crew of Galactica starts a slow clap.
* The writers break out some civilian cultural issue that we have never heard of and will never hear of again, purely for the purposes of plot.
* Drink twice if the above episode features Helo or Lee.
It's a work in progress...
Today I finished the main quest in Oblivion, which I'd been putting off for quite some time. There are still things I haven't done in the game, and quests I haven't finished, but I feel like giving it a rest for now. I have a second character that I'm going to use to do Shivering Isles at some point.
To be filed under the category of "geekiest things I've ever done," I made a little highlight video of my character Thayet's trip through Oblivion. I've had a lot of fun with her... about 200 hours of fun, to be precise (yeesh). I thought she deserved a nice sendoff!
I was on my old laptop this morning, and I had to get off because not being able to do the two-fingered scroll on the trackpad was driving my fingers up the wall. And I supposedly do not even like my MacBook, which I only have because work gave it to me. But that two-fingered scroll... man, I got used to it fast. Even Mike, who is one of those Mac people, does not understand because his doesn't have the two-fingered scroll. It also doesn't have a magnet-y cord, or Photobooth, so I don't understand what's so great about it that makes it better than a PC. Because clearly those things are the coolest features.
I usually don't want to be on this computer on weekends because it reminds me of work. But that two-fingered scroll...
And it's Friday, I had an okay day, plus I just had what I think is really good news at work. On the downside, it is SO NEW ORLEANS to schedule a funeral procession for a major public figure on a major business expressway at rush hour on a FRIDAY. What. The. Hell. We sat for 40 minutes at the Gen. DeGaulle onramp without moving.
A conversation over the weekend:
Sweetie: (after the smoke alarm went off while he was cooking eggs) I never thought of this before, but there are only two smoke alarms in the house. And one is in the hallway, and the other one is on the bedroom wall about two feet away.
Me: I guess it would suck if there was a fire in, you know, the rest of the apartment.
Sweetie: It doesn't make much sense.
Me: That is where most of the electrical cords are.
Sweetie: I could move it.
Me: Are we allowed to do that?
Sweetie: Why not? We could stick it in the middle of the coffee table, like a Cylon device.
I think this is so funny to me because it never occurred to me that he might actually do it. Yet there is now a smoke alarm in the center of the coffee table. Like a Cylon device.
Cylon device ----------------->
When people say, "I think I just threw up in my mouth a little."
No. You didn't. NOT FUNNY. Gross. And so 3 years ago.
Sorry, had to vent.
... the last words you want to hear at the end of the school day are, "I need you to take boys' PE during your off period today," but it was surprisingly hilarious. Apparently the PE teacher quit, and there was some sort of behavior issue yesterday for which all the junior high boys got yelled at today. Come to find out they rarely do anything in PE, because there's no gym and it was too hot outside last month.
"Um, can we just take them out to the football field?" we asked. And no one said we couldn't. Turns out we didn't have to do ANYTHING. They got a football and cones, organized themselves into teams, took off their shirts and shoes, and played without incident for 45 minutes. Odd. It was the best I've seen these kids be, like, ever. (We did lose 4 undershirts and several pairs of socks as casualties of the game. Hope no one's mad.)
Pretty funny. I would totally take boys' PE again tomorrow. I can tan.
Since I'm hungry waiting for The Sweetie to come home from the office, I stole this to pass the time. Although on second thought, it might not be such a good idea... :-P
1. How do you like your eggs? I don't. Seriously. Eggs gross me out.
2. How do you take your coffee/tea? Black!
3. Favorite breakfast food: None. I hate all breakfast food. I hate eating in the morning. Sometimes I will have a Hot Pocket. But not one of the breakfast-y ones, just a chicken or turkey one, because of aforementioned hate of everything related to breakfast.
4. Peanut butter - smooth or crunchy? Crunchy.
5. What kind of dressing on your salad? What salad?
6. Coke or Pepsi? Coke. Sometimes Diet, depending on how much of it I'm planning on consuming.
7. You’re feeling lazy, what do you make? A can of soup.
8. You’re feeling really lazy. What kind of pizza do you order? Something with calamata olives and feta from Reginelli's.
9. You feel like cooking. What do you make? I am the resident stir fry expert. I have many sauces and weird vegetables from the Asian aisle.
10. Do any foods bring back good memories? Tuna glop (this is what I call my dad's tuna casserole made with Campbell's mushroom soup and Kraft dinner) makes me think of my dad. Ramen noodles remind me of college. Tater tots remind me of summer camp.
11. Do any foods bring back bad memories? I used to get those little pudding cups all the time, but not since I got a stomach virus in 2005 and threw up after eating two of them.
12. Do any foods remind you of someone? Can't really think of anything right now.
13. Is there a food you refuse to eat? I don't like most white condiments. I know, it's weird. But I absolutely will not touch mayonnaise.
14. What was your favorite food as a child? Soup. Surprise, surprise.
15. Is there a food that you hated as a child but now like? Shrimp, but only because I moved to New Orleans and had to. Their crunchiness creeps me out. I like crawfish a lot better.
16. Is there a food that you liked as a child but now hate? Generally everything I really really wanted when I was a kid but couldn't have because my mom believed in health food, like white bread. I used to go to my friends' houses and pig out on junk and be embarrassed because my family was so weird... but now I only buy wheat bread and I never eat chips. Just does not appeal to me. Go figure. Also, one day in high school I randomly realized I was disgusted by red meat. It was St. Patrick's Day dinner and we were having corned beef. Now I pretty much avoid red meat except hamburgers.
17. Favorite fruit and vegetable: Strawberries. Artichokes.
18. Favorite junk food: Ritz crackers, Chips Ahoy cookies, Cheeze-its.
19. Favorite between meal snack: Sunflower seeds.
20. Do you have any weird food habits? When I eat Thin Mints Girl Scout cookies, I write my initials on the top first with my teeth. And that white condiment thing I said before.
21. You’re on a diet. What food(s) do you fill up on? What diet?
22. You’re off your diet. Now what would you like? Cheese, bacon, and chicken. The three staples of my diet.
23. How spicy do you order Indian/Thai? Moderately.
24. Can I get you a drink? Abita Amber.
25. Red wine or white? White. Red gives me a headache even before I'm done with the glass.
26. Favorite dessert? Cookies or ice cream.
To the gym, that is. But it has been paid for, therefore I am going. Going to the gym is like writing for me. While I am doing the activity I enjoy it a lot. And I mean a lot. I stop, and I'm all pumped up. "Oh yeah, I'm so good! I should do this all the time! Whoo!" And, similarly, I also enjoy having written and having gone to the gym. Afterwards, when I'm lazing about gloating about how awesome I am. But actually pulling myself out the door? Ugh. It's hot out and I am really close to beating Oblivion, and I am all planned for tomorrow and have barely anything to do tonight except focus on me, me, me.
So yeah. Did I mention I've rejoined the Tulane gym?
Off to commune with undergrads in the land of sweat...
... a toilet that attaches to your trailer hitch. No, really. I, of course, get a huge kick out of stuff like this. Except I'm a little disappointed with the link you'll see if you scroll way down to the bottom. It says, "Click here for an interview with GOD." I was totally expecting a heartfelt testimonial from God about how he enjoys taking dumps off the back of his pickup truck.
I am quite crestfallen.
The Thing is in the Gulf, but has yet to spin up into anything big. Coastal Flood Watch in effect. Was asked to unplug all cords and move stuff away from the door and off the floor. The weather outside today was quite cool, breezy, and gorgeous, however.
SPECIAL TROPICAL DISTURBANCE STATEMENT
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
400 PM EDT THU SEP 20 2007
THERE ARE NO INDICATIONS YET THAT THE LOW HAS BEGUN TO ACQUIRE TROPICAL
CHARACTERISTICS... ALL INTERESTS ALONG THE NORTHERN GULF COAST SHOULD MONITOR
THE PROGRESS OF THIS SYSTEM.
The most impacted areas by the high tides will be outside of the hurricane levee protection system in Plaquemines, lower St. Bernard parish and in low lying areas of coastal Mississippi. The Weather Service says a few locations could become inaccessible at high tide.
... the Tropical Thing over Florida cross into the Gulf in time to prevent me from having to go to work on Friday? That is all I want to know. Otherwise it has no relevance to me. If it is just going to arrive after Friday and rain and make my weekend suck, then it needn't bother coming here. If it wants to come Friday, though... well, then we can talk. Thank you.
http://www.nola.com/hurricane/index.ssf/2007/09/system_may_cross_florida_into.html
Robert Jordan, mega-bestselling author of the Wheel of Time series, has passed away at age 58.
Wow. I feel guilty about all those jokes I made about how the Wheel of Time never ends. Jordan began the series in 1990, and was working on what was supposed to be the twelfth and final volume when he died yesterday. I was aware that he'd been diagnosed with a blood disease, but I always liked to think he'd manage to finish it.
I know that, according to his blog (the server is, understandably, experiencing difficulties due to traffic, so it might take a couple of tries), he had made audio tapes and outlines. Last weekend he told his family members the ending. So it seems as if the book will be written after all... by someone. But he will never get the chance to finish his life's work.
I am actually quite upset about this. Sure, I'd criticized the books in recent years, but so have lots of people. But that doesn't change the fact that his books were my introduction to fantasy. I can't really think of my high school reading years without remembering the Wheel of Time. My dad and I would compete to be the first one to buy the new book when it came out. I think we've been reading since about 1994. That's thirteen years.
I can't help thinking that the worst part about it is him not getting to finish what had become the definitive work of his career (and arguably the definitive high fantasy work of the 1990's). Frankly, it terrifies me on a personal level, more than I expected. I'm always putting off writing, pushing it back. This isn't the time to go for the novel, I'm too busy working to write, I've still got plenty of time. Time, time, time.
But it's all bullshit, isn't it? I know many of Robert Jordan's millions of readers will spend this evening flipping through one of his books, in memoriam. It's a worthy thing to do. But not for me.
I will be writing.
Memento mori...
Me (cleaning out the cat box while the Emmy awards are on TV: I don't know why I'm even watching this, because NO good shows are even nominated and it's a huge disgrace.
Mike: Because you're taking out the poo. Which is about all the Emmys are good for.
Me: Exactly.
WHAT ARE these random network shows that get nominated? WHAT ARE they?
My cell is apparently broken. It's been that way since last Friday. I'm seeing about getting a new one, but please e-mail instead of calling. My phone is showing no bars and all my calls are failing even though there is reception in the area. No, they didn't turn it off because I didn't pay the bill. It's just not working all of a sudden.
ETA: OK, so unscrewed antenna, took phone apart, put it back together, whacked it with my hand, turned it back on, and it's working. But I just ordered a nice free new one anyway, because it's been over two years. And I am upgrading to the $39.99 "slightly less cheapskate" plan so I will never have to EVER go over my minutes again like I did this month. Seriously. You do not even want to begin to know about my phone issues right now.
And I had about 500 important calls while it was dead, and I am in the depths of despair trying to figure out how to catch up on all my business without going over my minutes again. SO E-MAIL.
Quoth the internet rumor mill:
"Say good-bye to the Six in Baltar's head," a source told SyFy Portal's Michael Hinman. "As much as we like Baltar having this controlling figure literally in his head, we couldn't keep it up forever."
...Who are these personas? The source won't say, but there has been a lot of speculation that they are all tied into the Leoben (Callum Keith Rennie) that Kara Thrace (Katee Sackhoff) saw in her "death" episode, "Maelstrom."
Of course, none of this has been confirmed by SciFi Channel or anyone else -- and is subject to change before the actual episodes air, so treat it as you would any rumor.
I begin to be suspicious of Google.
Do you ever get the feeling G-Mail knows everything about you? I mean, technically, it's a very intelligent way to provide a free service supported by advertising. I assume it scans my e-mails for keywords, and then pops up ads based on what it thinks I would be interested in. A couple months ago, hockey. Coffee. Get a lot of ads and articles having to do with coffee. Battlestar Galactica DVDs. Writers' resources. Ever since I bought that plane ticket to Syracuse last month, I've gotten a couple ads for shopping there. Today, steampunk.
Like, whoa. I feel as if I'm being stalked by my e-mail.
It's all right. You can admit it. I go through spurts of internet T-shirt collection. This appears to be one of them. There are SO MANY geeky yet cute T-shirts.
I love the internet. Sometimes I wish I could actually, like, crawl into the tubes and LIVE IN the internet instead of in real life. (But not really. The view's not great and you'd never get fresh air. And you'd get fat from having no exercise. But the shopping would be great.)
This shirt is especially fun because you don't even have to know what it's about-- it just looks like one of those retro tees. FYI, though, in the movie Serenity, the big bad government plays this wacky Japanese-inspired commercial for Fruity Oaty Bars, which has a subliminal message hidden inside that causes one character to go berserk and knock out an entire bar full of people. So, ya know, if looking at my boobs causes a sudden desire to kill people, now you know why.
Mike came up with it last weekend whilst we were watching Chamber of Secrets. It is simple and fun. And it has only one rule.
Take a drink whenever Ron makes this face.
I am trying to make a vocab practice sheet, but I can't get past my inner giggling at the fact that one of the words this week is "eddies." Every time I see it, like during class when I am supposed to be doing something entirely different, the beginning chapter of Life, the Universe and Everything runs over and over in my head. You know,
"Eddies," said Ford, "in the space-time continuum."
"Ah," nodded Arthur, "is he. Is he." He pushed his hands into the pockets of his dressing gown and looked knowledgeably into the distance.
"What?" said Ford.
"Er, who," said Arthur, "is Eddy, then, exactly, then?"
"There seem... to be some pools... of instability... in the fabric of space-time."
"Ah, that."
"Yes, that."
"And it's done what?"
"It," said Ford, "has developed pools of instability."
"Has it."
"It has."
Eddies... in the space-time continuum. Is he, now. And I can't explain it because the kids won't get the joke. So I am going to quietly snort over it here.
And the week just started! Now that's what I like to see. Don't misunderstand me... I don't hate my job. But it is a new job, and I am putting a LOT of time into it right now. It's much less "me" time than I've been used to. The three day weekend felt soooo short. This might be because I spent most of it sitting in front of Oblivion (I am getting to that point where I just think, "I WILL beat this game, dammit," because it has been so long and I'm still playing and it's beginning to drive me crazy.)
I also read some... hung out with a cocktail and felt like an adult human being... it was good. As luck would have it, since this week is short, I don't have much planning to do. That should give me more time than I've been used to lately. I think it will get better as the weeks roll on. New jobs are very overwhelming, though. Plus I ran up my phone bill to $100 with all my panicky phone calls... I guess I underestimated the amount of outside adult support calls I would need in a workplace where the people around me's idea of fun is making things out of tissues, Germ-X, and rubber bands, and flinging them at each other.
I just kept getting in my car and needing to talk to someone mature.
Yes, I have game ADD. Back to Oblivion with my first character to beat the Fighter's Guild today. And I figured if you've done one actual useful thing in the game, why not do another? So I went and killed that Umbra bitch. And now my sword matches my outfit.
I made a list of some truly frightening stats on this character.
Name: Thayet
Race: Redguard
Birthsign: The Thief
Class: Custom
Level: 29
Top Skills: Blade 101, Light Armor 100, Acrobatics 99, Sneak 96
Top Attributes: Strength 100, Agility 100, Speed 100
Hours Played: 158 (eek)
Items Stolen: 7575 (heh)
Assaults: 101
Murders: 6
Horses Stolen: 3
Locks Picked: 690
Oblivion Gates Shut: 11 (I told you I hate them)
Gold: 172,000
Thayet is the Master of the Fighters' Guild, the Grey Fox, and the Arena Grand Champion.
Really, the frightening part of this is the 158 hours without getting close to actually beating the game.
