I don't care if there's four inches of snow falling, I've been planning on doing my spring cleaning today for the past week. I'll just have to put off the outside stuff for a while yet. I'm sure there's a totally reasonable explanation for it, but having snow dumped on us when it's 40 degrees out is just plain weird to me.
I was really hoping to get some serious writing in this evening, but the roommates have once again taken over the main room where my desk and typwriter are. Curse my TV which is slightly nicer than theirs! Oh well, I've given them an hour, but now I'm going to go suggest they vacate to the section of the house they rent and watch their TV so I can get some work done.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
And another thing...
I finished Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter the other night, and it was pretty good! It was written by Seth Grahame-Smith, the author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. He took the same approach that he did with Pride and Prejudice, which was to start with what was already there and then fill in the blank spots in between. Whenever history was unclear about what Abraham Lincoln had done, Seth had him off hunting vampires. It did start to drag a bit toward the middle, as later in his life Abraham was more of a public figure and the story became less about tracking down lone killers and more about secret conspiracies and the vampires' plans for the United States. But the story picked up again as Abraham became president and the Civil War broke out.
I've got some friends who are pretty heavily into vampires, but they've never held much appeal for me. I tried playing that Vampire Masquerade RPG once, but I kept asking, "What's the point, where's the goal?" So we exist in a torturously dark and seductive world of ever-lasting night? Well okay, good for us I guess. Stories about vampire hunters on the other hand, I can usually get more into them. Someone who's willing to venture into that endless night and take arms against the inhabitants of that darkly seductive world? That ranks much higher on my coolness scale.
I've got some friends who are pretty heavily into vampires, but they've never held much appeal for me. I tried playing that Vampire Masquerade RPG once, but I kept asking, "What's the point, where's the goal?" So we exist in a torturously dark and seductive world of ever-lasting night? Well okay, good for us I guess. Stories about vampire hunters on the other hand, I can usually get more into them. Someone who's willing to venture into that endless night and take arms against the inhabitants of that darkly seductive world? That ranks much higher on my coolness scale.
All they need is some pointy hair
Nobody believes me when I say I hate paperwork, because I'm incredibly anal about it. But it's so much easier to deal with and get out of the way when it's organized! There's absolutely no satisfaction in taking a pile of forms and reports and sorting through them for three hours, because at the end of it all, you've still got just a pile of forms and reports.
That's not the real reason I'm irritated, though those three hours that were stolen from my life yesterday didn't help. It's because I'm slowly realizing that my supervisors don't understand the tools they're using to supervise me. I barely understand the programs myself, but after sifting through dozens of convoluted inventory and sales reports it sure seems like I've got a better idea of how it works than they do. I've just about given up trying to explain it to them, but I half-suspect they're being obtuse on purpose since shortages are taken out of my paycheck. What they should be doing is wondering whether it's worth making me waste three hours on the clock just to scrape a little off the top of my pay. Oh well. You know, before this job I didn't think Dilbert was funny.
On the plus side, I also got to climb up into the ceiling and do some rewiring. Making my way between ducts and pipes, kicking up eight years of dust... Okay, not the greatest chore, but afterward I had something concrete to show for it when the electronic signs started working again. After everything else, it was very satisfying to have actually accomplished something in the real world.
That's not the real reason I'm irritated, though those three hours that were stolen from my life yesterday didn't help. It's because I'm slowly realizing that my supervisors don't understand the tools they're using to supervise me. I barely understand the programs myself, but after sifting through dozens of convoluted inventory and sales reports it sure seems like I've got a better idea of how it works than they do. I've just about given up trying to explain it to them, but I half-suspect they're being obtuse on purpose since shortages are taken out of my paycheck. What they should be doing is wondering whether it's worth making me waste three hours on the clock just to scrape a little off the top of my pay. Oh well. You know, before this job I didn't think Dilbert was funny.
On the plus side, I also got to climb up into the ceiling and do some rewiring. Making my way between ducts and pipes, kicking up eight years of dust... Okay, not the greatest chore, but afterward I had something concrete to show for it when the electronic signs started working again. After everything else, it was very satisfying to have actually accomplished something in the real world.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
A metaphysical slap upside the head every once in a while can do wonders.
I saw a couple of friends in the Imaginary Invalid down in Denver last night at the 73rd St Theater last night, and it was very funny! I recommend it.
Afterward we hung out and watched MST3K until about 1:30am. Rather than drive back, I crashed on her couch that night. I was still lingering and putting off going back up to work the next morning when the landlord came to fix one of the cabinets. Although Cris introdced me as her friend who'd just come to see the show, it was obvious he was making assumtions about a friend of the opposite sex who'd spent the night in a single girl's appartment.
In the past when Cris or I visited each other and went out and did stuff together, it never really bothered me whether people assumed we were a couple or not. What did get to me though, was that Cris was bothered enough by it that she would go out of her way to make sure that total strangers knew we weren't dating. Like it would hurt her social standing or something. One day after she finished explaining to the cashier in the third shop in a row that I was just a friend she was visiting, I finally got fed up and told her, "Just say I'm your brother. It's faster." (We both have red hair, so it's easy to believe.)
This morning though, seeing the look on her landlord's face I could practically hear his thoughts. It was uncomfortable enough to get even me to try to formulate an explination of the platonic nature of our friendship. If that's what Cris feels every time she thinks someone is assuming we're a couple, I can understand a lot more why she feels the need to correct them. Still, I'll probably just start referring to her as my sister, since it really is faster.
Afterward we hung out and watched MST3K until about 1:30am. Rather than drive back, I crashed on her couch that night. I was still lingering and putting off going back up to work the next morning when the landlord came to fix one of the cabinets. Although Cris introdced me as her friend who'd just come to see the show, it was obvious he was making assumtions about a friend of the opposite sex who'd spent the night in a single girl's appartment.
In the past when Cris or I visited each other and went out and did stuff together, it never really bothered me whether people assumed we were a couple or not. What did get to me though, was that Cris was bothered enough by it that she would go out of her way to make sure that total strangers knew we weren't dating. Like it would hurt her social standing or something. One day after she finished explaining to the cashier in the third shop in a row that I was just a friend she was visiting, I finally got fed up and told her, "Just say I'm your brother. It's faster." (We both have red hair, so it's easy to believe.)
This morning though, seeing the look on her landlord's face I could practically hear his thoughts. It was uncomfortable enough to get even me to try to formulate an explination of the platonic nature of our friendship. If that's what Cris feels every time she thinks someone is assuming we're a couple, I can understand a lot more why she feels the need to correct them. Still, I'll probably just start referring to her as my sister, since it really is faster.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Dinner at Max's
Yesterday I was working at the bookstore when my phone started buzzing. Being the industrious employee that I am, I ignored it and made a mental note to check it for messages on my break. Then it buzzed some more and I started to worry that maybe it was important, so I wandered out of sight into the back room to see what was up.
The first message was from Max, telling me to come over after work for good food and liquor. Sweet! The second message was from the boss at the theatre, telling me that the other guy hadn't shown up and he needed me to come in and close after I was done at the bookstore. Crap! Somehow, they both managed to call within five minutes of each other.
So it wasn't until about 11:30pm that I ambled into Max's, at which point all the food was gone (homemade sushi) and the party was winding down. That is, until I unveiled the bottle of Jameson I'd brought with me. A few Irish Carbombs and Cannonballs later, we were all giggling at each other as Little Jon and Dave scoured the kitchen and put together an impromptu chocolate fondue. Thus galvanized, the party was able to forge ahead until 3:00am. I'll post the picture as soon as I figure out how.
The first message was from Max, telling me to come over after work for good food and liquor. Sweet! The second message was from the boss at the theatre, telling me that the other guy hadn't shown up and he needed me to come in and close after I was done at the bookstore. Crap! Somehow, they both managed to call within five minutes of each other.
So it wasn't until about 11:30pm that I ambled into Max's, at which point all the food was gone (homemade sushi) and the party was winding down. That is, until I unveiled the bottle of Jameson I'd brought with me. A few Irish Carbombs and Cannonballs later, we were all giggling at each other as Little Jon and Dave scoured the kitchen and put together an impromptu chocolate fondue. Thus galvanized, the party was able to forge ahead until 3:00am. I'll post the picture as soon as I figure out how.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Complete Shakespeare (Abridged)
I went to see The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) last night at the Backstage, and it was incredibly good! The players were all kinds of animated, and got some audience participation going as well to turn up our energy as well. I'd only ever seen the second act before: Hamlet. The first act was a condensed version of everything else Shakespeare'd written. I'd recomend everyone to go see it, but unfortunately last night was the last show.
Also, reading the program I discovered I'd missed out on a special celebration where a lot of old timers came back to the 'Stage for fun. It's very irritating that I missed it, since I knew alot of those old timers from back in the day when we were all regulars in the theater department in highschool (regretably, I never did anything at Backstage). Oh, well. I'll catch them next time.
Also, reading the program I discovered I'd missed out on a special celebration where a lot of old timers came back to the 'Stage for fun. It's very irritating that I missed it, since I knew alot of those old timers from back in the day when we were all regulars in the theater department in highschool (regretably, I never did anything at Backstage). Oh, well. I'll catch them next time.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Vodka-induced rambling
Mmmm... vodka.
Huh? Oh, right. I'm writing things.
The salt didn't work, so I was forced to get a new phone. This one with a keyboard, so I can finally put apostrophes in my texts! Yes, I write gramatically correct texts. It's one of those side effects of an english degree. Also, I've noticed that texting can be a great way for people to be passive agressive. The more abreviations and acronyms you use, the more hostile the message! Argh, I hate passive agressive people.
Bah. Anyway, I was surfing around variuos blogs and pages the other day and noticed that people who have obsessions tend to be more interesting. Not neccesarily obsessive people, but people who are into a particular subject or thing so that they'll seek out any and all information and reference to that subject. I talked to a girl who was obsessed with cheesy horror movies, and one who was obsessed with Alexander the Great. They were incredibly into thire respective topics and could go on and on about them. THere was no question in their minds that what they were talking about wa sincredibly interesting, and I found their fascination rubbing off on me. I've never been particularly interested in Alexander the Great, but this firl was so animated that she made me want to learn more about him and what he did in his life.
It made me wonder, do I have an obsession that makes me interesting? I've had plenty of phases. For a while I was way into dreams and subconsciuos, and after that it was social memes and media tropes. But do I have something I keep pursuing more than just the current shiny bit of philosophical interest?
Maybe perfect moments. I still seek those out quite a bit. Anywhere I can find them: books, movies, comics or music. Not just the good ones either. moments of perfect misery, or perfect despair, for instance. I love them all. I'll buy the worst DVD I've ever had the displeasure of watching, just for the one scene a third into the film where a character just says something exactly the right way in exactly the right context and conveys an emotion or feeling perfectly. Why did I feel that connection just then, with that character? How did they reach me? D those moments reach other people in the same way? These are the things I want to know and find out.
A good chunk of what I write comes from those moments I've found (there's a list). Can I convey the same intensity, even if I change the characters and setting? There was a video game I played once (Planescape Torment) where there was a collection of magically stored experiences. To more hard-core video gamers, it was all fluff that had nothing to do with advancing the game or story, but It was one of my favorite parts of the game, because it was in essence a collection of perfect moments. Bitter Hatred. Soul-Crushing Duty. Each one was nothing more than a few paragraphs describing an experience of intense emotion. It was awesome.
Hmmm. Should I post more about perfect moements in an effort to be more interesting? Meh, maybe.
And now, back to the vodka.
Huh? Oh, right. I'm writing things.
The salt didn't work, so I was forced to get a new phone. This one with a keyboard, so I can finally put apostrophes in my texts! Yes, I write gramatically correct texts. It's one of those side effects of an english degree. Also, I've noticed that texting can be a great way for people to be passive agressive. The more abreviations and acronyms you use, the more hostile the message! Argh, I hate passive agressive people.
Bah. Anyway, I was surfing around variuos blogs and pages the other day and noticed that people who have obsessions tend to be more interesting. Not neccesarily obsessive people, but people who are into a particular subject or thing so that they'll seek out any and all information and reference to that subject. I talked to a girl who was obsessed with cheesy horror movies, and one who was obsessed with Alexander the Great. They were incredibly into thire respective topics and could go on and on about them. THere was no question in their minds that what they were talking about wa sincredibly interesting, and I found their fascination rubbing off on me. I've never been particularly interested in Alexander the Great, but this firl was so animated that she made me want to learn more about him and what he did in his life.
It made me wonder, do I have an obsession that makes me interesting? I've had plenty of phases. For a while I was way into dreams and subconsciuos, and after that it was social memes and media tropes. But do I have something I keep pursuing more than just the current shiny bit of philosophical interest?
Maybe perfect moments. I still seek those out quite a bit. Anywhere I can find them: books, movies, comics or music. Not just the good ones either. moments of perfect misery, or perfect despair, for instance. I love them all. I'll buy the worst DVD I've ever had the displeasure of watching, just for the one scene a third into the film where a character just says something exactly the right way in exactly the right context and conveys an emotion or feeling perfectly. Why did I feel that connection just then, with that character? How did they reach me? D those moments reach other people in the same way? These are the things I want to know and find out.
A good chunk of what I write comes from those moments I've found (there's a list). Can I convey the same intensity, even if I change the characters and setting? There was a video game I played once (Planescape Torment) where there was a collection of magically stored experiences. To more hard-core video gamers, it was all fluff that had nothing to do with advancing the game or story, but It was one of my favorite parts of the game, because it was in essence a collection of perfect moments. Bitter Hatred. Soul-Crushing Duty. Each one was nothing more than a few paragraphs describing an experience of intense emotion. It was awesome.
Hmmm. Should I post more about perfect moements in an effort to be more interesting? Meh, maybe.
And now, back to the vodka.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Must... finish!
Back in Colorado! Mountains rock.
I managed to find Kirstin's house with a minimum of trouble. I started to worry when the streets named after trees stopped appearing, but it turns out Beech is a few blocks away.
Last night my internet started working again for no reason! It was great. I was able to surf around for all of a couple hours before all the lights on my modem sputtered and went out, and the modem died utterly. Sigh.
Most importantly though, my current and largest WIP is, short of a lot of proof-reading, finished! [insert appropriate fanfare here] In truth it should have been finished eight months ago, but I kept getting discouraged by... well, just about everything else. Now comes the really hard part: completing those final steps. Now that the creative process is done, I can already feel my attention waning and it's getting harder to hold back the new ideas. This is the biggest project I've ever taken on, and I've got to steel my resolve and see it through to the awesome/bitter end.
I managed to find Kirstin's house with a minimum of trouble. I started to worry when the streets named after trees stopped appearing, but it turns out Beech is a few blocks away.
Last night my internet started working again for no reason! It was great. I was able to surf around for all of a couple hours before all the lights on my modem sputtered and went out, and the modem died utterly. Sigh.
Most importantly though, my current and largest WIP is, short of a lot of proof-reading, finished! [insert appropriate fanfare here] In truth it should have been finished eight months ago, but I kept getting discouraged by... well, just about everything else. Now comes the really hard part: completing those final steps. Now that the creative process is done, I can already feel my attention waning and it's getting harder to hold back the new ideas. This is the biggest project I've ever taken on, and I've got to steel my resolve and see it through to the awesome/bitter end.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Off the Aether
I'm up in Wyoming visiting family and friends for the next couple of days. It turned out to be very fortuitous that I made plans ahead of time, since this morning I ran my pants through the washer with my cell phone in the pocket. Now my last tenuous connection to the wireless grid is my old phone which can't send or receive calls or messages anymore, but can tell me when someone has left me a voicemail... which I can't listen to. Technology sucks when I don't have it.
I took it apart and let it sit in the sun for a while, and now I've sealed it in a dish with a bunch of salt in the hopes that science will happen to it and make the water go away. It sounds a little like one of those things idiots do because they overheard part of a conversation and didn't bother to learn anything more. Soon I'll be dead, and public service announcements will be issued warning that combining salt and cell phones will burn down your house.
I called work and gave them the number I'm at in case they want to yell at me some more. Tomorrow I get to try to find my friend's house without the ability to call for help when I get lost. Man, I'm in trouble.
I took it apart and let it sit in the sun for a while, and now I've sealed it in a dish with a bunch of salt in the hopes that science will happen to it and make the water go away. It sounds a little like one of those things idiots do because they overheard part of a conversation and didn't bother to learn anything more. Soon I'll be dead, and public service announcements will be issued warning that combining salt and cell phones will burn down your house.
I called work and gave them the number I'm at in case they want to yell at me some more. Tomorrow I get to try to find my friend's house without the ability to call for help when I get lost. Man, I'm in trouble.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
A random thing to know
When a frog gets sick, it throws up it's whole stomach! Then, after scooping out the contents, the frog swallows it again.
Nobody knew this until they took a frog into orbit and it got space-sick.
Nobody knew this until they took a frog into orbit and it got space-sick.
I can't tell if the Irony Gods really like me, or really hate me.
It seems I still haven't learned my lesson. It's surprising, since the Gods of Irony seem to take more interest in me than is healthy. After all, most people are struck down for statements like, "Life couldn't be better," or "What could possibly go wrong?" Me though, I get in trouble for remarking that there's nothing horrible happening to me at the moment. Saying "I'm back on my game," for instance, seems to bring 'em running from miles around to come give me a shove.
To be fair, I was the one who was playing around with the $100,000 piece of projector hardware in an attempt to figure it out. But I know I didn't do anything to the color or aperture settings, which was what was messed up the next day and caused the loss of three shows and a couple thousand dollars in refunded tickets. Even that might not have been so terrible, had my attempts to figure out the projector not taken the form of "let's see if we can use the projector to watch a BluRay movie in the theater."
Of course that was how the employees saw it, and that was what they immediately told the boss the next day when the problems started. Honestly, I really was more interested in seeing if I could get it to work than watching V for Vendetta, which was the unfortunate title they brought with them. Maybe I haven't drilled it into their skulls enough that we're not allowed to just go in and switch on the projector and watch a movie whenever we want to!
In any case, by the time I came into work at three, word had spread up and down the chain of command that the projector had gotten messed up because I had been using the theater like my own personal big screen TV. They were practically filling out the forms for an immediate termination by the time I got there. It took hours of convincing first my boss, then the DM, and then finally the CEO of the company that that wasn't what I had been doing. Eventually I did convince them though, so now all that's left is the yelling.
Still, I did absolutely nothing to the various screwed up settings! All I did was change the input channels, and unless I failed to correctly change them back and the boss punched a lot of random buttons the next morning in an attempt to fix it, I can't think of any way they could have been altered. There's only one explanation left: the Irony Gods have struck once again in their campaign to turn my life into a long succession of random yet entertaining misfortune.
To be fair, I was the one who was playing around with the $100,000 piece of projector hardware in an attempt to figure it out. But I know I didn't do anything to the color or aperture settings, which was what was messed up the next day and caused the loss of three shows and a couple thousand dollars in refunded tickets. Even that might not have been so terrible, had my attempts to figure out the projector not taken the form of "let's see if we can use the projector to watch a BluRay movie in the theater."
Of course that was how the employees saw it, and that was what they immediately told the boss the next day when the problems started. Honestly, I really was more interested in seeing if I could get it to work than watching V for Vendetta, which was the unfortunate title they brought with them. Maybe I haven't drilled it into their skulls enough that we're not allowed to just go in and switch on the projector and watch a movie whenever we want to!
In any case, by the time I came into work at three, word had spread up and down the chain of command that the projector had gotten messed up because I had been using the theater like my own personal big screen TV. They were practically filling out the forms for an immediate termination by the time I got there. It took hours of convincing first my boss, then the DM, and then finally the CEO of the company that that wasn't what I had been doing. Eventually I did convince them though, so now all that's left is the yelling.
Still, I did absolutely nothing to the various screwed up settings! All I did was change the input channels, and unless I failed to correctly change them back and the boss punched a lot of random buttons the next morning in an attempt to fix it, I can't think of any way they could have been altered. There's only one explanation left: the Irony Gods have struck once again in their campaign to turn my life into a long succession of random yet entertaining misfortune.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Time goes by, just when I thought I was catching up
Yesterday was my first day off in recent memory. I didn't have to do anything or go anywhere, and I regret it only slightly that I did nothing at all. Wearing flannels and a bathrobe, cooking stir-fried leftovers watching Clue with the volume turned up in the other room; that was me. After all the seemingly drudgery of the past couple of weeks, I needed some time to clear the cobwebs out of my skull.
Today, it took about two hours to undo all that relaxation. The boss wanted to prioritize our to-do list some more. But when it's as long as ours, prioritizing isn't so much deciding what needs to be done more as it is deciding what we can put off. Nothing stresses me out like seeing all my various and equally urgent tasks piled up in front of me like some insurmountable mountain.
Seriously though, the day off did help. I'm back on my game again! (Or at least as precariously perched as I usually am)
Today, it took about two hours to undo all that relaxation. The boss wanted to prioritize our to-do list some more. But when it's as long as ours, prioritizing isn't so much deciding what needs to be done more as it is deciding what we can put off. Nothing stresses me out like seeing all my various and equally urgent tasks piled up in front of me like some insurmountable mountain.
Seriously though, the day off did help. I'm back on my game again! (Or at least as precariously perched as I usually am)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)