Schedule manipulation

I'm going to try something new.

My hours at work are 10 am to 7 pm. Sean's hours are 3:30 pm to 11:30 pm. This means there are four or so hours where I have time "to myself", but then there is at best one hour in which I can spend time with my husband before I should be asleep. Of late I have been ignoring the should and staying up until 2 or 3, and this has crippled my mornings.

I've never been one of those people who can consistently sleep for only five hours a night. I tend to need at least 7 hours of sleep, and on weekends I often sleep for 12 hours. (I've even slept longer than that, which is scary.)

Anyway, it's obvious that I can't stay up that late. But that means hardly getting to see Sean at all. So I'm going to try something his mom proposed: naps.

I will hop in bed when I get home from work, nap until after he gets home, and then get up and mess around while he's here. We won't necessarily do anything together, but it's always nice to be able to look over and see him. I get lonely sitting here by myself.

Then, eventually, I will go back to bed for another nap until I need to get up and start my day.

I'm not sure this will work. I lived on naps back when I was going to college and working night desk, and I had a pretty decent routine going then, but I'm rapidly nearing age 30 and I'm not entirely sure my body can pull that off anymore.

We'll just have to see.

I worked late today, which is why I'm still up. As soon as I hit "Publish", I'm off to dreamland. (It may actually work, too, because I'm pretty tired. I stayed up late watching the end of Pumpkin Scissors last night. More on that later.)

Update: Well, I slept through the alarm I had set for 12:30 am and didn't wake up until 5. That didn't quite work, did it?

Maybe I can try for going to bed as soon as I get home and getting up ridiculously early...but then wouldn't I be really tired at the end of my workday? Bleh.

Meetings

I don't want to say I'm afraid of meetings, but I do worry about them a lot more than I feel other people do. I tend to be hyperprepared, arriving with hours of research and a stack of printouts. This is usually because I have no idea what's going to happen and I want to cover as many bases as possible.

Sometimes this means that I end up leading the meeting!

Today I had a meeting that I had zero time to prepare for...and it actually went okay. We were talking about stuff involving my department, things I'd already done a lot of thinking about, but I hadn't had time to go through my notes and collect my thoughts beforehand.

Fortunately, it was an exploratory and informational meeting and I didn't have to "present" anything. I was asked a few questions and I was able to respond. So it went well.

But I sure was stressed about it beforehand!

So I guess Starbucks phished me.

This is scary because I am a pretty savvy computer user and tend to notice when urls don't match or when emails aren't coming from where they say they're coming from. But how else to explain why my MySpace account was used to post ads for Starbucks on most of my friends' pages?

I guess it's a good thing I don't have that many friends. :P

I've changed my password, but at this point I'd almost rather close my account. I hardly ever use MySpace anyway. But there are people I can really only keep in touch with through MySpace, damn it, so I guess I will just have to deal with it.

What a load of shit. Fuck MySpace. And fuck Starbucks too.

(Sorry, Mom.)

Intentionally vague

Well.

Now I have some information I have no right to have. And I feel sick.

I have to decide what to do about it. Because what's done is done, and it isn't going to go away.

This is the first thing that needs to be done though:

I'm sorry.

Photos

Lots of photos have been uploaded, but I haven't had the time to tell you about them. So here goes.

Shaker Village, Kentucky, April 15, 2007

Ben and Manda and I drove out to Shaker Village, as has become typical for us when I visit. Aside from the beautiful rolling hills, well-maintained buildings and fences, and farm animals, we also had the rare experience of seeing a whole herd of deer. There were something like eight or ten of them running around the grounds. Ben managed some close-up shots from behind a stone fence, starting here.

Family Farm, April 17, 2007

AJ and I headed up to the farm with Dad, where we met up with Grandma and Uncle Steve. AJ and Dad busied themselves with uprooting small trees using a car battery-powered motor and a rolling tripod of Dad's design, while Uncle Steve mowed the grass and I walked the grounds and sat and chatted with Grandma. And took pictures, of course!

Around the time we were gathering on the porch for lunch, Uncle Steve found a tiny frog in the grass :)

Riverwalk at Lunch, April 26, 2007

I grabbed some Chick-fil-A and headed to Riverwalk for lunch this past Thursday. Instead of the usual St. Paul's parking I went to the Marina parking just off the 5th Street bridge. Much nicer! You don't have to walk down a bazillion steps. I may make a habit of parking there.

While I was sitting on a bench by the river eating my lunch, some pigeons with blue coloring were poking around the area nearby. I was surprised at how close they got to me.

Later, as I was taking pictures of a rose bush, a woman asked me if I was a photographer. :>

There are also some new photos in my Life > 2007 > April 2007 gallery, including Renfro Valley, hanging out with Ben and Manda and having a pizza roll, a trip to a furniture store with Mom and Connor, a beautiful mountain road in Jellico, Tennessee, the new nightstands I just put in our bedroom last night with Reid's help, and the new layout of the living room, which is a mess, but much closer to what I want than it used to be.

And here's the view from where I'm sitting as I write this post.

Summaries are nice

My Boss: I get so much mail. I wish there was something I could dump it all into, and then it would spit back out the stuff I need to know and get rid of the rest.

Me: Kind of like an RSS aggregator for regular mail.

My Boss: ...I have no idea what you just said.

Eyes on the road!

Here's a movie of a winding road in Jellico, Tennessee. I ponder the similarities between Kentucky/Tennessee and Japan in this video.

I stopped in Jellico because, really, who wouldn't want to stop in a town called Jellico? I've wanted to stop every time I've passed it--meaning every time I've driven between Augusta and Nicholasville. This time I actually took the exit. I was hoping to find some knick knack with the town name on it, but unfortunately I couldn't find a single thing.

Ah, Jellico. Population 2448 and they have a website. That tells you something about the world we live in.

Just in case you didn't get enough Jellico, here's a movie where I don't talk until the very end.

And here's a picture.

This season's anime

Tim's made some recommendations here, and I found a brief roundup over at Irresponsible Pictures as well. Here's what I'm thinking of checking out:

Bokurano
Claymore (if it's not too gory)
Lucky Star
Moonlight Mile
Overdrive
Romeo x Juliet
Seirei no Moribito
Sola
Touka Gettan

Just watched the worst episodes of Detective Conan ever

I mean, wow. They spent way too much time on the history lessons and the Momotaro legend. Then the murder was so sudden, and there was zero discussion of how she was killed, and the confession at the end just seemed trite.

I felt like the episodes were contracted by Okayama Prefecture to promote tourism. There was hardly any of the usual Conan goodness, and a whole bunch of slow, detailed scenes discussing historical locations and showing how beautiful the cities of Kibitsu and Kurashiki were. Sheesh.

So yeah. Eps 377 and 378? Not so much.

On the other hand, I now have another Japan location to add to my to-visit list ;P

I hate celebrity "news"

I don't want to read about what celebrities are doing on the main page of news sites. If I really care about what they're doing, I can go to a gossip page. But honestly, I think celebrity "news" has gotten way out of hand. A lot of what's "reported" is none of our business. Would you want that sort of information about yourself broadcast across the world? What makes it okay to tell stories like that about celebrities?

I say nix this sort of "news" and cover something important. There are things happening in the world that aren't scandals and trash talk. And I'm not just talking about crime and disasters!

Bleh

I'm feeling depressed and tired. I don't know if the depression is fed by the tiredness or vice versa or if they're just coexisting phenomena.

Regardless, bleh.

I had some strange dreams last night. In the first one, I was really upset about how much weight I've gained, and I was thinking that I would never be able to lose it without surgery. But I didn't know if I would ever be able to afford it. When I said this aloud, my mother immediately sliced open my belly and started cutting away parts of my organs. At this point I could see inside there, and it looked like how it looks when you cut fat away from chicken with kitchen scissors.

I was thinking, I know you were a nurse, and I know you witnessed this sort of procedure before, but do you really know what you're doing? But I didn't say it.

Then she was done, and I said, "This wasn't an official surgery, so I won't be covered if something goes wrong." I must have been so traumatized by the thought that I could die that that part of the dream became a dream, and I was telling Mom about it.

"And so I thought to myself that I would never be able to lose the weight without that surgery," I said.

"Well, duh," Mom responded, and pulled out my flat metal spatula. She promptly split me open with it and did the surgery, and I watched it happen the exact same way.

This last bothered me so much that I woke up for real.

Somewhere in there I also dreamed that my workplace was on fire. It wasn't my office as it is now; it was a narrower room. I ran into the smoke and started grabbing stuff.

"I don't want to lose everything again," I explained, coughing. I managed to save several toys--all toys that I used to have at the old apartment, that were of course lost in the fire. One was my Darkwing Duck bank, and one was my Sailor Moon figure.

It's kind of funny; I have never obsessed about losing those toys.

Yet another long stretch in the car

I feel like I just got here, but I'm off once again, down the interstates and back to Augusta.

I was hoping that this vacation would be restful, but given the short span of time I had here, sandwiched between 530 miles of driving, I must have been delusional. I think the most relaxation I've had has been today, when I decided that I should sleep in so I'm not tired on the road. But even now I don't feel relaxed.

I just feel...weary.

Oh well. At least I only have two days of work before the weekend.

I've picked a game universe.

Those of you who are interested in the game I'm going to run might want to click here.

"Super" is probably short for "superscript"

Just now the national news came on, its top story being of course Imus. What a waste of airtime.

Anyway, I bring it up because the super said "Apology Accepted", and as soon as I saw it I immediately intoned, "Apology accepted, Captain Needa."

I am absolutely riveted.

Don't look now, MM, but you've got competition in the evil cliffhanger department.

What causes people to make racist comments?

I like to believe that Don Imus didn't wake up that day and think, "Hmm! Let me insult some people!" I mean, in this day and age, it should be pretty damn obvious that what he said was completely inappropriate and was only going to get him into trouble. Surely he knew this.

Mel Gibson had the tenuous excuse that he was drunk. What's Imus'?

Regardless, these things that people are saying in unguarded moments...is this really how they feel? If so, why? And what can be done?

Cookies!

I made chocolate chip cookies yesterday, just like the old days.

When I was a teenager, I used to make them all the time. For some reason my family has always said I make them the best, even though all I do is follow the recipe. (And add about twice the number of chocolate chips. Hmm...)

It felt really good to put my new Kitchenaid to use at last. I ended up with three trays of cookies, the wonderful scent filling the apartment.

I brought some to work today to share. I left one Ziploc bag in the break room, and it was empty in no time. The other I kept in my office to offer to anyone who came by. The station manager said it was very thoughtful, and the assistant news director said his cookie was the highlight of his day!

I had some losers turn me down--two people said they were trying to lose weight, peh, and one guy said he was allergic to chocolate--but the overwhelming concensus seems to be that my cookies rock, which is of course the only truth there is in this crazy world.

Zero no Tsukaima remix

So, have you seen this show Hayate no Gotoku? Same animators as Zero no Tsukaima, and the female leads have the same voice actress, and the story is essentially the same: young guy protects young girl, in bizarre circumstances. Zero had a magic school; Hayate seems to involve rich people and the yakuza.

In Zero, Saito's parents are nonexistent; in Hayate, Hayate's parents are worse than unavailable, they're the cause of all his problems, ultimately abandoning him.

I thought Zero was okay. I'm not sure it's worth buying, but it's a decent little show to watch if nothing else is on.

Hayate seems to have more promise, though. While many aspects of the show are the same as Zero, this show isn't afraid to be ridiculous--and then mock itself. The narrator routinely breaks the fourth wall, a device some may find tiresome but I find hilarious. "This anime won't let bad deeds go unpunished!" (Or something like that.)

So, I'm looking forward to episode 2...which apparently just came out. Yay!

I'm tired of stories about Anna Nicole Smith

Could you all please just let her rest in--and for that matter, give the rest of us--peace?

Vaughn didn't win ;_;

I was rooting for Vaughn Taylor in this year's Masters Tournament. He's from Augusta, and this was his second Masters, and he was playing extremely well up until the last few holes of Round Three.

I didn't really watch much of the Masters today, but when I checked out Amen Corner Live at Masters.org briefly I saw that Vaughn had fallen quite a bit, while Tiger had stayed towards the top. I watched Tiger hit a lovely drive that apparently turned into an eagle (I don't know, I'm just happy when the ball goes into the hole), and started quietly changing my vote to Tiger, but ultimately he didn't win either. The Green Jacket goes to Zach Johnson from Iowa, who up until now hadn't won a major.

Well, best wishes to Johnson, and good work to all the players on this year's cold and hard course.

But I still wish Vaughn had won.

(Did you know that before I started dating Sean, I had no idea the Masters even existed?)

Stupidity

Hee

I was on an internal call with a female anchor (she was in the newsroom, I was in my office down the hall) and she was giving me color commentary on the Masters, when suddenly the all-call sounded, summoning the talent to the studio.

"I gotta go be on TV, I'll call you back," she said.

Stay or go?

Here are Sunshine's thoughts.

a question I receive a lot is that " how do you feel about the US presence in your country ? do you want them to stay or leave? "
WELL , 4 years a go , I used to feel safe when I see the soldiers in the street, I thought that I will have a free developed country , and we will live in happiness and will achieve our ambitious , I thought I will have a bright future , I was so happy that I bought military clothes and wanted to be a soldier (kid's dreams!).
Now , when I see a tank I go as far as possible , when a tank come the cars go aside , and after they pass we drive as fast as we can , so that we don’t get hurt when some one attack the troops, I feel unsafe now , I worry about my family members , relatives and friends , I miss my aunt , I live in destroyed country full of terrorists , explosions , shootings , I don’t' go out as I used before , I see people I love leaving Iraq , I see my country bleeding and I can't do anything about that , I don’t trust the governments nor the presidents , I try to keep my spirit high , and say all of the darkness in the world can't blow my candle , but it is hard , I don't have enjoyable life , I miss picnics and fun , I miss the safety and security ,I miss a lot of things , I feel like a stranger in my country.
If the US troops will leave, a carnage will happen, they should stay I think and fix my country .. But as I say I am too young to talk about policy I might be wrong , that's just my opinion ..

TMNT

I don't have a lot of time, because I should be in bed already, but I wanted to mention that I went and saw TMNT today, and it rocked. That fight in the rain? So amazing. CGI has come a loooooong way.

There wasn't enough Donatello for me, really; as usual the plot was Leonardo/Raphael-centric. But the ending hinted at a sequel, so maybe...:)

I also wondered why April seemed to be a dealer in ancient artifacts (and a ninja) rather than a TV news reporter. But eh. I don't care that much. (And Sarah Michelle Gellar did a great job voicing her.)

Love Casey Jones.

One of the best things about the movie was how it meshed so well with the other movies. You can't argue necessarily that it's in the same timeline, but the characters' personalities, situations, and even their voices and trademark lines just seemed to fit.

The music was also great.

I just discovered that the VA for Donatello was Barry in Friends. Now that's scary.

Real quick

Here are those pictures I mentioned before. I decided not to worry about editing the rest of them, and just threw them up as they are.

Threw them up. Ha!

Here are a couple of the ones I did edit, with the originals for comparison.

There are many many many more pictures, including this one, which is currently my desktop wallpaper.

Check out the rest here.

Bleh

I've been doing a lot of reminiscing lately, reading my old AMRN posts and enjoying the interactions I had with other characters and the long scenes I'd write for characters and NPCs. I decided to share the posts I was enjoying with other people on the board, so I started a thread on the GenDis.

For the most part it has been a fun thread, with some old-timers chiming in with their thoughts. But at some point I mentioned that maybe I wasn't that bad of a GM after all, and then he made a comment.

I'm not noting a lot of combat posts in this thread. Bar scenes and briefings and debriefings, yes; combat, no.

Just an observation.

He's actually wrong; there were no bar scenes ;P But that's beside the point. What he is really doing is gently reminding me that yes indeed, I did suck as a GM.

This guy and I have never gotten along. He rubbed me the wrong way from the very first time he emailed me to tell me all the things the AMRN was doing wrong. I was always on the defensive with him and completely unwilling to listen to anything he had to say.

I'm not proud of my reactions, but that doesn't mean he isn't an asshole.

Up until the time I read his post I had been thinking I wanted to run a small game, with players I liked and with all new characters. I wanted the game to cover a long time period, to involve character development, and to span various different types of campaign. I planned to start with the characters as hostages, then move to things like ground-pounding, intel-gathering, escaping into the underground, and maybe occasionally a mecha battle. But the idea was that the group wouldn't have a home to return to at the end of each day; they would be on the run, trying to get to somewhere they could call home. Thanks to events at the beginning of the story, no one would know they were alive, so it would be completely up to them.

It was a Macross game in my head, partly because I didn't want to have to build a whole new universe. New settings are one thing, but laying out ground rules for an entire universe is a bit much for something that's supposed to be a fun hobby. But I wondered if I really wanted to do Macross, or if I just chose it because I was used to it.

Now, of course, I'm feeling depressed. Regardless of the fact that this guy's a jerk, he did remind me of the reason I quit the AMRN in the first place. If I go back and try again, will the results be any different?

Bleh, indeed.

No. Surely Pete isn't that evil.

...okay, so maybe he is.

But please, let it not be what I think this time.

Those Hallows sure are Deathly, I tell you what

So, here's the US cover for HPatDH.

There are two other covers, the ones used in Britain (e.g., Land o' Brookie). All three are interesting. I have to admit that Mary GrandPre's art has grown on me, though.

Something funny: the articles describe Voldemort as reaching towards Harry in the US version, but to me it looks like he's trying to ward off or magick something in front of Harry that we can't see.

Perhaps the effect is different when the artwork is wrapped around a book.