An honest to God beaver shot on every page!
| 2004/08/27 | |
| 03:21 | Link |
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That Border Thing I'm done. I'm good for another year. | |
| 2004/08/25 | |
| 14:10 | Link |
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It's everywhere you want to be To apply for a TN-1 visa (NAFTA professional), you need to apply at a Port of Entry. Ports of Entry aren't uncommon. You can find them along any border, typically at the crossings, though maybe they have Mobile Ports of Entry. (Hey! An Immigration Tank, like the Mitzvah Tank.) You can also find Ports of Entry at international airports.Hey! LAX is an international airport! Yes, LAX has a Port of Entry. You cannot enter a Port of Entry from inside the United States. So... who outside the U.S. would like a visitor this weekend? | |
| 2004/08/24 | |
| 23:42 | Link |
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League 1 of 3 Hasselbeck, Matt QB SEA Palmer, Carson QB CIN Barlow, Kevan RB SFF Brown, Chris RB TEN Faulk, Marshall RB STL Jones, Thomas RB CHI Chambers, Chris WR MIA Galloway, Joey WR TBB Gardner, Rod WR WAS Moss, Santana WR NYJ Moulds, Eric WR BUF Franks, Bubba TE GBP Gates, Antonio TE SDC Kaeding, Nick PK SDC Buccaneers D TBB Packers D GBP | |
| 2004/08/10 | |
| 16:14 | Link |
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The Beginning of the End If you don't want to get addicted, don't let the crack into the house. Well, I let the crack into the house and now Henry and I are both trying to wean ourselves off of the hours and hours of play on City of Heroes that we've logged since the 28 April launch.There was some misinformation at launch, with some people reporting that certain stores were selling it ahead of the scheduled launch time of 9 pm Central Time. (What an odd time to release something). Ultimately, I was able to track down a copy and asked Henry to pick it up for me the evening of 27 April. Unfortunately, my video card (ATI RADEON 7200) wasn't up to snuff and I had to get a new one, which Henry was kind enough to pick up for me the following day. With a new ATI RADEON 9200 in place, I was able to get fully logged in and playing. I let Henry have my username and password so that he could play during the day while I was at work. Apparently, that was all that was needed to get him hooked too, which surprised me. He got his own account that day, and spare time has pretty much been City of Heroes time since then. Henry's up to level 40 with his Controller. Me… I keep making character after character. I finally settled on an Empathy Defender a week into the game and played it for about six weeks… before I accidentally deleted it early on a Saturday afternoon in June. RIP Tororossa. I mourned the loss until dinner, which was long enough for Customer Service to confirm what I already knew: they couldn't do anything to recover the character. The character deletion process has since been changed to prevent the kind of lag-induced accident that caused my character's deletion. Started a new Defender that same evening, though I restyled the character as a Force Field Defender this time around and set about building it up to "replace" the old character as soon as possible so that I can keep playing with the circle of friends that I had made as the old character. I was able to duplicate the previous six weeks of work to reach level 21 within two weeks, and then proceeded to race onward to rest at my current level of 32. In the interim, I've made other characters and started running them up in levels, too, with a range between 6 and 11 right now. My newest favourite, when I'm not playing my main, is a Mind/Empathy Controller, intentionally chosen to be gimped and therefore a challenge to play. I should probably set up an updatable list somewhere on the sidebar so that I don't have to keep dropping name changes here. In the meantime, all on Guardian server:
At one point or another, I've also had Papa Smulk (Papa Smurf meets the Incredible Hulk), Cancer Stick (looks like a cigarette), Erik Estrada (complete with CHiPs uniform), Vanilli (paired with Milli), the Casting Couch (giant pimp daddy), 20 min Workout (how 80's can you get?), and No Class Lass (like school in the summertime). It would be easier to get off this game if it wasn't so much fun and I didn't meet so many cool people on it. | |
| 16:12 | Link |
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Getting Paid Work is work. Getting my butt kicked by a core application that I have to rip out and replace with an updated version, but with the tools that I have on-hand, it's been a really aggravating process. The old app won't come out cleanly. The new app defies capture with snapshot tool, so I've had to resort to hacking the manufacturer's MSI file. Of course, the app doesn't just install with the MSI. There's a post-install component that I now have to find a way to duplicate. It's all such a pain in the ass.I had to take a break and work on another app for a bit, just to clear my head on it. Fortunately, I was able to bang out the other app and send it up the river for testing by the users, so it still feels like I'm making progress. Still waiting for the firm to follow up on my visa renewal. I'm trying not to be freaked out about it, since there's not much I can do except annoy people with my badgering, but I really don't like the uncertainty. | |
| 16:10 | Link |
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The Landmark Forum I don't remember whether I first heard of this through Kai or through Henry, but they went through the Landmark Forum in that order, and for both it brought about significant change in how they lived their lives. For the most part they were the same, but slightly different. Having listened to me complain about my lack of direction more, Henry pushed me to attend. He had to push for the better part of a year.Landmark Education, the company that presents the Landmark Forum, is shrounded in some controversy. I had friends on one side urging me to go and friends on the other warning me to do otherwise. As a result, I went in with some skepticism, but in the end I believe it was worthwhile. In working through their exercises, I was able to see myself a little more clearly, and the methods that I used to deceive myself. I was able to come clean with my parents about things I hadn't told them before. It's probably remarkable in itself that I had a conversation with my father, at 4 a.m. his time, that lasted longer than all of our other conversations combined since I left for university eleven years ago. Landmark has definitely made an impact in my life, though not as big as it could be. I'm still working through stuff that I've spent a lifetime repressing. Is it for everybody? No. As their waiver for clearly states, their programmes are for people who are well and not those in need of help from certified health professionals. I can see where some people may come out very differently, much to the concern of their friends and family, especially if they end up contributing as much of their time and energy as Landmark would like them to contribute to the organization. The long and the short of it is this: I got a lot of good stuff out of attending the the Landmark Forum. Actually getting "something" out of the Forum isn't exactly accurate. The Forum is about getting "nothing", which is a bit of a joke about losing all of the baggage that you carry around with you in your life. I was given new ways of looking at the problems I have in my life and the way I approach them. In dealing with these issues, I could continue without the weight of them holding me back. As for my baggage, I'm still unloading the trunk. | |
| 16:09 | Link |
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ITBBQ The director of my department had a barbeque at his house in Thousand Oaks three weeks ago. It's nice to be able to gather with coworkers outside the work environment. It's so much nicer when you can socialise and be comfortable around each other without the stress of work looming overhead. Seems like it's been happening more frequently, too, on an informal basis, which is very good. Possible things to do in the future? Hawaiian luau, complete with pit-roasted pig. Yeah, I'm in for that! | |
| 16:09 | Link |
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Farewell, Uncle 002 It may seem callous for me to say that I didn't know his name, but I didn't, and that's perfectly normal. He is the second son of my mother's mother, who has always been referred to by his honorific title by my generation as Uncle #2, though I like Uncle 002 better, stemming from convention started when I referred to Uncle #7 as 007.Anyway, Uncle 002 passed away in mid-July. I don't know the exact date--maybe 11 or 12 July, depending on how the time zones fell--but I was called Monday night (12 July) by my sister. He had gone to dim sum that day to celebrate his son-in-law's birthday (I think), didn't feel well and went home to take a nap. He died of heart failure, for which he'd had a quadruple bypass years before. Did I know him? Yes and no. He lived in Hong Kong, so I only ever really saw him when I went back to visit, which was a total of maybe six months worth of time spread over four visits (age 6, 8, 13, 27). He was an affable guy, financially struggling but emotionally rich, with three lovely daughters and six lovelier grandchildren. Spent a whole day with him wandering around Hong Kong on my last trip and saw the condo he had planned to retire to. I liked him, but didn't talk with him that much. At first, I looked at his death pretty impassively. I figured I didn't know him that well and was more concerned about my mother, who was taking it pretty hard. It wasn't until I started writing this that his loss really began to affect me. Originally, there was talk about the three siblings in North America not returning for the funeral and it seemed to be resolved as such, but I know my mom. She listened to reason and gave up on going to the funeral. I'm truly glad that she turned after dealing with some travel obligations and went back anyway. Family is important. I didn't always feel that way, but I'm coming around. | |
| 16:07 | Link |
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Anime Expo A friend I met online, James, came out to visit for the 4th of July weekend and we joined Henry, Drew, and Jason at Anime Expo 2004 in Anaheim. It was a pretty packed weekend, especially for Henry, Drew, Jason and myself since we were working on the newsletter.Newsletter is like a throw back to my high school days when I worked on the Lisgarwrite, but the time crunch on it was much higher. We put out seven issues over the course of three and a half days and covered all manner of events at the con. Being my first Anime Expo, I expected it to be a lot like Comic-Con in San Diego. It was and it wasn't. There seemed to be a more familiar feel to AX. People were friendlier and treated each other more like friends than just a huge mass or random people sharing space on a convention floor. I think most of this could be attributed to the cosplayers, who form and entire subculture of convention. Think of people dressed up in costumes from anime and video games. Some of the stuff out there was absolutely amazing. I'll confess, some of them were really hot, but I'm a social coward. Definitely going to go back again next year. Henry, Jason and I met up again at the staff appreciation dinner this past Friday and shop-talked a little about what next year might look like. We have visions of bigger and better things. It's just a matter of getting the funding to do it. As for James, who was mentioned at the top of this post, I owe you an apology. Things were pretty hectic and I was neglectful as a host at times and at times terse where I shouldn't have been. Sorry. | |
| 16:06 | Link |
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Face Reading Earlier this year, I agreed to be a guinea pig for a Taoist face reading class at Henry's TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) school in Culver City. It was a fun experience and the instructor, Patrician McCarthy, is a remarkable woman. The experience impressed me enough to sign up for her class when she ran it this spring and I plan to follow it through to its conclusion in another three semesters.The intro class was a lot of fun. Five sessions, three hours each, touching on all the basics of facial structure and how it corresponds to life events, medical states, and predisposition. It's crazy to think that seemingly unrelated things would be reflected on the face, but they are. We do it all the time unconsciously. The woman at the other table is sensual because of her lips. That man has a determined set in his jaw. This sunken-cheeked grandmother doesn't appear to have the will to live… It goes on, but I won't say more unless you talk to me in person. It's fascinating in a sometimes hokey kind of way, but it's fascinating nonetheless. | |
| 16:05 | Link |
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La Vie en Rose Last Thanksgiving, I visited Chris Kindred and his wife Sarah in Las Vegas. That was when the concept of a "local" Amber game was first agitated, as much as you can call Los Angeles local to Las Vegas or vice versa. Still, it's not the craziest thing I've done. Hell, I gamed in Fall River when I was living in New York.Four months and change later, we finally had a cast of ne'er-do-wells assembled for the auction, which went along pretty well. I don't know how the others fared, but I pretty much ended up with what I aimed for: a character in the middle of the pack. I like well-rounded characters, instead of being insanely focused on one particular attribute, but that's my play style. The opportunities that gave me were endless. I was a little disappointed that the group decided on a Corwin's Pattern game rather than something more traditional. Quite frankly, with all the varied con games and variations that I played there, I really wanted to have something to "come home to" that was straight up, traditional, Amber DRPG with player characters as the sons and daughters of the canon Elders. And non-Merlin canon at that. Now, three months after the auction and still no first play session, due to conflicting schedules, I'd still like to play a traditional Amber game, but I'm not so reluctant about the Corwin's Pattern game anymore. Chris has done some good things reining in the setting and putting limitations on characters. I like the flavour. I like the French influences. I like my character, Eglantine. I like having silly Artifacts that might actually be useful. So the next question is when will the group finally get together. At this point, I think Chris is going to have to bite the bullet and just set a date. There are too many people in the game to accommodate everyone. Whoever can show up will show up. Whoever can't will have to wait until next time. Next proposed session is a week from Saturday. We'll see if I actually make it up to Sin City for it… or maybe go anyway, whether or not the game runs. The title? That's the name of the game. | |
| 16:03 | Link |
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Memorial Day Weekend There are some things I can talk about and some things I can't about this weekend, and not being exactly sure what I can't talk about anymore, I'll just sidestep the issue and say nothing more than I spent part of it commiserating with others about politics on the Korean peninsula and the reunification movement that is building there. It was an intense weekend, though I felt out of place at times.The lighter side of the weekend found time at The Palms (Thai Elvis!) with Henry, Drew, Jason, Jiwon and Na Young. Lots of good food, followed by Van Helsing, which was a fun action romp, though the story wasn't particularly strong. Kate Beckinsale in a corset though? Ahem... | |
| 16:02 | Link |
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Whole, but Unwhole Picked up the Return of the King theatrical release DVD the day it came out in late May. It's not something I really needed, seeing as how I was fully planning to buy the extended edition come November, but Target was having a great sale: DVD + free microwave popcorn + free batteries. The free stuff was free only by virtue of the sale coupons they offered with the DVD. Factored in with the $5 off the extended version that was included in the DVD, it made the entire purchase cost to me at less then $5. Then again, I get free batteries at work and I don't have a microwave, so maybe the free stuff really didn't matter. | |
| 15:57 | Link |
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So… much… pink… I know it's called the Revlon Run/Walk for Women's Cancer for a reason, but there was an inordinate amount of pink going on during the five-mile walk (run, if you're into it). I went with Jiwon, who got me into the whole thing. Felt a little uncomfortable with the other folks in the group though, mostly because I didn't know them and there was really no cohesion at the start, on top of the fact that the mutual acquaintance linking me to them was missing and didn't meet up until about the one mile marker. Social awkwardness aside, it was a very pleasant way to spend a Saturday morning, even if it meant I went straight home afterwards to sleep the rest of the afternoon. Probably not the best idea to have stayed up so late the night before when I had such an early morning. Will I do it again next year? I don't know. Part of me wants to do something for all cancers, not just women's cancers. While I have women friends that are cancer survivors--thankfully, no cancer casualties--I felt like I was neglecting the one person that I really wanted to walk for, my grandfather, who succumbed to bladder cancer in 1999 after one hell of a fight. This brings up an interesting approach to compassion though. There are so many things to care about, yet how can you care about all of them and remain sane? I'd like to contribute to cancer research (all cancers, not just women's cancers) and heart research, based on family. And then there's AIDS, and starvation, and… and… and… Ever notice how a lot of my stuff seems to end in unfinished thoughts? | |
| 15:57 | Link |
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Two Months in Not-Quite-Sixty Minutes I've given myself an hour to write up what's happened since May and maybe even a bit further back. It's taken a lot longer than that. While there's some summarization and conglomeration of topics, what follows is roughly in chronological order as I may have posted them, if I'd been posting regularly.It's not that stuff didn't happen. Stuff happened. Lots of it. I just didn't take the time to write about it. | |
| 2004/08/04 | |
| 12:21 | Link |
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Holy shit, two months! Has it really been that long since I posted. Man, I really owe me (and anyone who still reads) some kind of update. The short version: I went heads down into City of Heroes and am slowly clawing my way back up. Slightly longer version: I've started building more of a meat world life and have less and less time to be online (and what time I had went into the short version). Dodge: The best ebay listing ever. The long version: I'll have to do this tonight, after my seminar. | |
