Society for Aesthetic Deletions

How did I spend my weekend? Glad you asked...

Friday

- Watch Farscape, in preparation for next week's season premiere.

- - Taped until 7:00, then watched part of an episode. Decided to watch Big Trouble in Little China DVD we've had for ages and never watched. Lou insists commentary track be turned off, as he wants to hear movie. About 1/3 of the way through the movie, the machine starts misbehaving and we can't get it to show without skipping anymore. We give up and I play FFX until the wee hours of the morning.

Saturday

- Bike ride along the East Bay Bike Path.

- - Nope.

- Get some work done on a few games (SSC and IMiA, and get new player up to speed in TBE).

- - Nope, none of this got done.

- Play some FFX.

- - Got a lot of this done. Almost finished capturing creatures in the Omega Ruins, or so I thought. Turns out that some of the creatures I've been capturing in there aren't counted as being in there, and I have none of one specific creature at all. I ran into them once, when I first went into the ruins and died, and then haven't seen them since. Annoying. Played lots of Blitzball too. I need to do some more to get the Jupiter Sigil, to power up Wakka's weapon. Did get the Status Reels and Auroch Reels in order to get the Sigil. Spent lots of time trying to capture butterflies and not having much success. Still have to dodge lightning 200 consecutive times and try to beat the Chocobo trainer with time of 0:0:0. Am thinking that some Legendary Weapons are Not Worth It.

- Get some writing done, at least Ennis' response to Kit in the Letter Blog, and hopefully more Margaret stuff done for the ATF blog.

- - Nope.

- Go to sister-in-law's house to install network card in their Mac, before they move to Bridgewater.

- Done.

- Additional bits

- Went to breakfast a Percy's after figuring out we didn't have large enough dish to put microwave bacon rack into oven.

- Went to WalMart for new dish for said rack, fans, and other tidbits (lamp for Lou's trip, feminine things for me.

- Took walk around park.

- Went to see hole in in-law's backyard. It now has a concete foundation in it for the addition to their house.

- Out to dinner, then home. Husband realizes that he'd know our plans for the weekend if he actually read my blog after I tell him that WalMart was originally scheduled for Sunday.

Sunday

- Possibly breakfast out at Percy's.

- - Breakfast with Pat & Betsy and their nieces.

- Possibly go to pick up some fans at WalMart, since the heat approacheth (and the humidity), and Lou needs them for his conference anyway.

- - Done on Saturday.

- Maybe another (or a first) Bike Path ride.

- - Nope, though there is beautiful weather for it.

- Maybe some FFX.

- - Nope.

- Maybe actually start reading Diplomatic Immunity. Or finish I Dare.

- - Nope. Decide instead to read Cassandra Claire's Draco Veritas, third in Holy Trilogy. New chapter due out within a week which will have lots of stuff revealed in it, and want to not be spoiled.

- The Sunday Game, in which we may fight more of the Freak Legion, may find an unexpected ally in the prisoners, and maybe have Betsy's character Storm get her cohort (finally!).

- - Done. Met Gunnar "The Grizzly," who is werebear. Pound on one more member of Freak Legion, but only defeat lackeys. Betsy approves surprise cohort, of which I cannot mention here because she reads this blog.

- Additional Bits

- Did the Great Underwear Search after breakfast. Lou needs 3XL boxer briefs. Search and search and drive and search, and only in last place we were going to look anyway, finds them. While driving, we chat about what happened during (as Lou calls it now) Age of Mystery in our game world. We have 9,000 (+/-) years of blank space between my game and our current games. We have no idea what happened then, and why civilization isn't more widespread in current game, with all that time. Ah, but now we have vague clue, with great reasons/rationalization! I love it when a plan comes together.

- Also picked up Harry Potter DVD while at WalMart for GUS.

I decided a few weeks ago that I was going to stick to the Weight Watchers diet for the month of June.

I didn't really remember until yesterday afternoon that June started on Saturday. Oops.

Well, I am still going to try really hard to stick to the plan. I won't post my meals and their point values here (well, not often), because for the most part, I stick to the plan for breakfast and lunch.

It's the dinners that kill me.

Here's my typical day'o'food:

Breakfast

Large travel mug of tea - 2 points (one for each teaspoon of sugar)

Cereal bar or Granola Bar (3 or 4 points, respectively)

Total: 5/6 points

Today - Tea, Granola bar = 6 points

Lunch

Diet Coke - 0 points (occasionally water, also 0 points)

Weight Watchers/Lean Cuisine - 4-7 points, depending on the meal. Most often it's around 5 points.

Unsweetened Applesauce or Fat-Free Vanilla or Chocolate pudding - 2 points

Fruit - 1 or 2 points (depends on whether it's an apple or banana)

Total: +/-8 points

Today - Santa Fe Rice & Beans, Vanilla Pudding, Apple, Diet Coke = 8 points

I'm also drinking water now.

This brings me to a total of 14 points so far.

I have a POINTS range of 22-27 (I think...I don't have my materials with me). So that leaves me 10 points for tonight (on average). I guess this means small Subway lowfat sub. No cheese (waah!), no mayo (waaah!).

But I want to stick to it. I want to get past this frelling plateau of 175 lbs. and drop the last 10 pounds.

If I can do it, then maybe I can get Lou to buckle down and drop the 100+ he needs to drop. Maybe.

:: how jedi are you? ::

A bit too obvious of a quiz, but it's still me. I still got it.

mwah. mwah ha ha.

::thinking I need to have a category for Weight Watchers...hey, anyone want to do a mini-blog with me, support each other, keeping track of our points and such? I'll set it up...::

A correction for yesterday. The Sante Fe Rice & Beans is 6 points. And I had tea biscuits that were a point for the amount I had.

Dinner last night was a 6" Subway Club, no cheese, no mayo, on the roasted garlic bread. I don't know if the bread is more or not, but that should have been about 5 points. ::checks web:: Okay, it's 6 points. I also had a small bag of Lays brand potato chips, which by my calculations was 4 points. Two things of water, which are 0 points.

Total points yesterday: 26

Today:

Tea & Cereal bar: 5 point breakfast

Lean Cuisine Chicken with Basil Cream Sauce (the absolute BEST "diet" meal I've eaten, ever. This is so GOOOD!), apple, diet coke, applesauce: 8 point lunch

I'm never good with the dairy and the vegetables. I don't have enough of those. But I am staying within the points range.

13 points so far, which leaves me with 9-14 points toward dinner. Will have to plan good meal tonight.

UPDATE: Dinner was Three Cheese Macaroni Smart Ones (6 points), carrots (0 points), and two slices of light bread with 1 tbsp of light margarine (1 point bread, 2 points margarine), with water to drink: 9 points.

Total: 22 points. And if I can't make it through the night without something else, cool. But if not, I have 5 points to play with.

And tomorrow is weigh-in. I've already asked Lou if we can do Papa John's for dinner. MMmmm...Papa John's breadsticks with dipping sauce...

Yes, I take Wednesday night off from the diet. So sue me. I need it.

Music Industry Unveils Piracy-Proof Format

"We can state with absolute certainty that no computer in the world can access the data on this disc," said spokesman Brett Campbell. "We are also confident that no-one is going to be able to produce pirate copies in this format without going to a heck of a lot of trouble. This is without doubt the best anti-piracy invention the music industry has ever seen."

Courtesy of the Daily Illuminator.

I'm a blog-creatin' fiend!

Lisamarie has joined in, and so I have created the Weight Watchers Support blog, wherein we can help each other, and others who may wish to sign up, keep to the track of healthyness.

This brings my blog total here up to 5. One is hidden, it's for Anne and me to do some ATF stuff. The others are all publicly available.

Do I love Movabletype, or what?

And I heard a rumor that a certain friend was going to be joining the blog community, and lo and behold he has! Whoo-hoo! Of course, he's using some other tool to do his blog, but hey, we all started somewhere...

A number of Israeli reserve combat officers and soldiers have decided to stop taking part in missions that don't directly serve Israel's defense. Like the War of the Settlements.

Bravo.

Courtesy of Michael.

1. Would you remain in a marriage if you found out your mate had had an affair? What if it had happened more than once?
Oh $diety, $diety, tough question!

I think that I would stay in the marriage if it happened once, provided my spouse was willing to work things through with me. More than once, no. There is obviously something seriously wrong with the relationship if they have an affair more than once, and they may be just looking for a way out.

I used to say that if my spouse cheated on me, the cops would have to look hard to find the body. But having been married now for five (yipe!) years, I wouldn't immediately go for the jugular. I'd be hurt, sure, who wouldn't be? (someone who wanted out of the marriage, perhaps) But I would want to know why. I'd be more likely to try to work things out, see if the relationship could be salvaged.

2. If you knew that if you devoted yourself to any single occupation -- music, writing, acting, business, politics, medicine, etc. -- and be among the best and most successful in the world, what would you choose?Writing. I love acting, but I don't think I could take the boredom (on movie or TV sets, not the theater), or the stage fright. If I could devote myself to writing, that'd be my chosen profession. I'd like to inspire others to write, too.

3. What word or short phrase should people say more often?
Frell. It's just such a good swear word. Frelling dren is also especially good.

No Friday Five this week either, neither that domain nor smattering.org is responding.

Watching Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone right now, taking a vacation day from work.

Who was the idiot at Warner Brothers who decided to make two whole separate packages, one containing the widescreen edition, and one the pan-and-scan? Guess which version I picked up?

Anyone want a pan-and-scan? I tore up the receipt just this morning, so I can't even return it.

Weekend plans -

Friday

This belongs in News and Laughter.

Apparently, the Beijing Evening News reported a story, taken from The Onion, as full truth. Read all about it from the Reuters link.

Courtesy of Slashdot.

Which Deadly Sin are You?

Courtesy of ***Dave.

I got a call today from a former co-worker, who is now living (again) in Vermont.

He needed some help, and he knew I would be the one to help him.

He's responsible for doing a public safety commercial for Vermont, and Kathy from Survivor 4 is going to be doing the 30 second spot for them. About how she is a survivor because she buckles up, and all that.

However, he only watched Survivor when he worked here, and we would have Survivor Lunch on Fridays, watching the Thursday night episodes. So he has no clue anything about her or this version of the show.

Hence, the phone call to me. He knew if anyone he knew would know anything about the current Survivor, it'd be me.

So I gave him a basic run-down on what happened with Kathy on the show, including the peeing on the hand incident, and her son being the one to visit.

I surely hope this helps make those 30 seconds a better spot. And he'd better mention me to her when he interviews her. Heh.

Believe it or not, there has been a dotcom success story, and it's not pr0n. The New York Times has an article on how used bookstores are making money selling via the internet.

In fact, the used-book industry so well illustrates the classic economic model that it could replace widgets in Econ. 101 and no one would know the difference.

While I love walking through a used bookstore and browsing the shelves, looking for specific titles and finding others I hadn't known I wanted, I must say that it's a godsend to just be able to order something online and get it within a few days.

Courtesy of Slashdot.

I have my new 17" Apple Studio Display (Flat Panel).

This takes the place of the 15" Apple Studio Display (Flat Panel) as my secondary monitor. I have a 17" Apple Studio Display (CRT...they really need better names) as my main screen.

But oh, that my have to change.

The 17" flat panel is absolutely clear at 1280x1024. I can't do that on the CRT, it hurts my eyes if I look at it took long, and the print is tiny. Not so on the flat panel. So the CRT lives at 1152x870.

But then, oh then, where will Tifa and Aerith and Cloud and Red XIII and the frog and the chocobo and Gatomon live? I suppose they could be relegated to living on the secondary monitor (in which I keep my main Fire window, my Now-Up-to-Date calendar in Classic, and my Son of Weather Grok windows (oh, I should probably add Denver in...does so), plus iTunes and a few aliases).

Oh, the choices, the choices.

I think I will try the flat panel as the side screen, at 1280x1024, just to see if I can live with it. Then try moving it as the main screen.

I personally don't know how I survived before with only one monitor. My window must have been terribly cluttered.

1. If you had the knowledge, would you inform your mate (or a parent) that they have an incurable disease? Or would you try to keep the truth from them (assume they are in full command of their faculties) for as long as possible?
I'd tell them. I really think there is nothing to be gained from hiding information from someone, other than pain when/if they find out. Besides, then neither of us would have to suffer alone.

2. If you had a choice of one intimate "soulmate" and no other close friends, or of no such soulmates and many friends and acquaintances, which would you choose?
Soulmate, without question.

I am, as my husband has coined the phrase, rabidly independent. While I love my friends and acquaintances, I could live without them. I wouldn't like it, but I could do it.

But I couldn't live without my husband. He's my other half, my soulmate, my best friend. Without him, I dwell in darkness. (sorry for the Willow reference!)

3. Which sport would you most like to play professionally?
I don't know that it'd be defined as "play," but I would love to do three-day eventing. It was the equestrian focus of my riding days and my college major. I love the dressage, and though I've never done a real cross country course, I'd love to give it a go. And stadium jumping is old-hat to me.

Figured it was time for some more FFX music. I give you two of the saddest (I think) songs in the soundtrack. I have actually played through the first song, but the second one will come at the end, I know it will, just by its name.

Maybe I find these songs so compelling because I know their background. I'd be really interested in knowing what others think, hearing them out of context.

So, we have Revealed Truth and Someday the Dream Will End, for your listening pleasure.

These are from the third and fourth discs, respectively.

The Brunching Shuttlecocks have done it again. This time, they turn their wit to Weblogs.

I'm just glad I've seen the Spider-Man picture they were talking about, via Sekimori, otherwise I'd be clueless.

Courtesy of ***Dave.

Friday Five was late this week, so I started answering one from my birthday week, last year. Will do the real FF later today.

1. If you were to go to a movie this weekend, which one would you pick?
Interesting. Anne asked if I wanted to see Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood with her, since we're Chow Yun Chatting this weekend, and I was kinda, "eh?" Could take it or leave it. Windtalkers is coming out, but I'm not in a rush to see it, nor Scooby-Doo. Bourne Identity looks neat, and I love Matt Damon. So I think that, or a repeat of Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones would be my choices.

2. What movie would you like to rent this weekend?
Not big on renting movies, so I can't say there's one that I want to rent and see.

3. What one TV show do you always try to watch?
Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Now that it's in reruns, it'll be Farscape. Even got the husband rehooked on watching. Go me!

4. If you (and your S.O.) were cool with it, what five celebrities (at the most) would it be 'ok' for you to have a fling with?
Oh, the list of three from Friends, eh? Hrm. For me it'd have to be ... Ewan McGregor (yum!). John Cusack (oh yeah!). Colin Firth (love the accent, and prefer him over Hugh Grant). Michael Rosenbaum (he can even grow in his hair if he wants. Rrrooowwwr!). Brendan Fraser (mmm...tasty...mmmm). Darn, that's the five? ::sighs dramatically::

5. How do you plan to spend your weekend?
Dinner with Anne tonight, and then chatting afterwards. Going to show her the wonders of FFX. No idea what's planned for Saturday, and Sunday Lou heads off to his conference, leaving me all alone. I am supposed to do something with my sister-in-law for dinner. Have to send her an email to double-check.

1. How often do you do laundry?
Maybe once a week. I usually let it pile up a lot before doing it. If the washer and dryer weren't in the basement, and us on the third floor, it would probably get done more often. Especially if it was on the same floor as the bedroom.

2. What's in a typical wash load?
A load of black clothes, a load of blue, a load of red, a load of green, and a load of whites. Towels are mixed with the colors appropriate, as are sheets and pillowcases.

3. Front or top loader? Powder or liquid detergent?
Top washer, front dryer. I want to get a front-loading washer, but that will have to wait maybe a year or so. Liquid detergent, occasionally a dryer sheet (when we have them) in the dryer.

4. Do you use fabric softener in the rinse cycle?
Nope. That's what dryer sheets are for. And I got unscented sheets, so there's not a lot of scent.

5. Dryer or clothesline?
Dryer. My mom had a clothesline when we were growing up, and occasionally we'd have stuff on the line. But it's always been dryer for me and probably always will.

'Unidentified Floating Object' Washes Up On Beach

Police, firefighters, an Air Force bomb squad, the Coast Guard and the state Department of Health and Environmental Control all examined the orb on Wednesday, but none could identify it.

Officials contacted NASA and the National Weather Service, but none claimed ownership.

Courtesy of The Daily Illuminator.

We've had a number of server issues at work, which has led to my decline in blogging lately. Expect another day or so of slowness, especially as I'll be up visiting the husband in New Hampshire tomorrow.

But for your amusement, I give you today's most amusing spam:

Dear Sir,

Our group of companies which mainly covers international trade (projects) and has more than 20 years history.

If you are interested to import the products made in China products or projects, kindly contact our EXPORT DEPT. We will let you our offers and details information after received your e-mail.

If you have some products or projects which suitable for China markets, kindly contact our IMPORT DEPT. or send your catalogues & quotations to our office directly.

If this e-mail not suitable for you, kindly delete this e-mail immed. or you can inform us your e-mail address under the subject "MOVING", we will delete your e-mail address from our mail list immed.

Waiting for your early reply.

Okay, I know, English is probably not this spammer's native language, and I'm being annoying. But I have to go configure a Win2k server in a few minutes, and this is the most fun I'll probably have all day.

This really belogs in both News and in Other Blogs, but we'll stick this in Other Blogs.

In my "blogroll" as many call it (I call it my bookmarks, my sites I check multiple times daily, daily, and every other day or so), there's an entry named "Teacher: Year One." This is going to be the journal of a good friend of mine, named Jeanne Thelwell. Jeanne was a lawyer, then an entrepreneur, then a web designer, amongst other things here and there, before she decided that she wanted to "feed her soul," to put it in her words. She decided to start teaching.

New Faces in Class, and They Hold Chalk [New York Times, free registration required]

While Jeanne's not quoted in the article, it does give a good summary of what the New York City Teaching Fellows are trying to do.

And let's hope she'll share her experiences of first-year teaching with us on her blog, since she has to journal anyway.

Only two of the four eggs hatched. And the babies have nearly lost all of their downy feathers.

The two unhatched eggs are gone; don't know what happened to them. I haven't been following the birds as closely this time as last year, though this time I did follow from the start and last year I came in very late.

You can also see that the nest is getting rather untidy, with remnants of the kills brought by their parents strewn about.

They've been banded, too. Pretty soon, I'd imagine they'll be testing their wings for flight.

I heard about this while listening to The World on the way home.

It is possible to force one photon into a specific quantum mechanical state and, because the two photons are connected in some way, the other photon will instantaneously take up a complementary state.

Courtesy of Doyce.

I'm off to visit Lou today in New Hampshire, then we're heading up to see Jack and have dinner at a seafood place.

Not going to have time to post much, as I'll be on the road. I am taking the camera, so if there are any good pics, once I get them developed, I'll share.

1. You receive notification of jury duty. Do you go willingly, or do you try and find some way to beg off (or get yourself disqualified)? What if you were told that the case you were being impaneled for might go on for months?
I go. Been there, done that. Even if it was for months and I'd be sequestered.

I served on a jury for two weeks. Criminal case. Defendent fled before we could find him guilty, so we convicted him in absentia. Still don't know if they caught him or not.

2. Would you be willing to give up sex for one year if you knew it would give you a much deeper sense of peace than you have now?
Deeper sense of peace? Hell no.

If my giving up sex for a year made everyone in the world live in peace, then yes.

But just to give me a deeper sense of peace? I'm already pretty much at peace with myself, so I don't need that, thankyouverymuch.

3. What's the most violent television show you watch? What about the most sexually graphic?
Violent? Oh, probably Buffy, which isn't that violent (IMNSHO). Maybe Angel.

Buffy again for sexually graphic. Especially this past season of Buffy, all those Spike and Buffy scenes.

If we got Showtime, the latter would probably resolve to Queer As Folk, which I want to watch, but not enough to pay for it. And I'd have to tape it anyway, as it's on late and not something Lou wants to see at all.

I went up to visit Lou yesterday, which involved more driving than I had really thought about.

I am tired today. I want to go home and take a nap. But no, I have to hang out at work, watching someone install java onto an Win2k box and get it working again, to replace a box that was compromised in a new and unique way.

My neck hurts from all the driving yesterday, or something.

And I forgot to bring my camera. Which of course meant that while we were driving back, we saw the most beautiful, complete, double-rainbow I've ever seen. It had been raining, and was sunny, and poof, there they were when we stopped for gas.

I'm very glad next year's conference is about 15 minutes from our house, so Lou can commute.

*yawn* Is it time to go home yet?

English-Quenya Dictionary for Palm OS

What will they think of next?

Courtesy of Turn of a Friendly Die.

Palm Tree Undies In Zombie Town

What an amusing way to start a morning. Surely got my blood pumping...because of the attempts to hold laughter in so as not to scare my office mates.

1. Do you live in a house, an apartment or a condo?
Apartment in a house. It's a house that was converted into apartments at some point. We live on the third floor.

2. Do you rent or own?
Rent. It's hella cheap, even after the house was sold to a different person. He didn't raise the rent, allowing us to live in a manner which will keep us from ever being able to move again. Well, at least until we get some debts paid off.

3. Does anyone else live with you?
My husband and our two cats.

4. How many times have you moved in your life?
My dad worked for IBM when I was growing up. Little do you know, but IBM stood for "I've Been Moved."

My older siblings were all born in New York, in the Binghamton area. My younger sister and I were born in Alabama. We then moved to Maryland for a few years, before settling in Portsmouth, Rhode Island.

I went off to college for nearly two years, that was in Virginia. I don't know if that'd count as moving.

Upon return, I lived twice in Providence, moving home after each time. Then, Lou and I moved into our current apartment in the fall of 1995.

5. What are your plans for this weekend?
Tonight is ATF, wherein they will hopefully finish most of the dungeon crawl. Depending on how things go, they may not get to the big battle.

Tomorrow is WEF, with possibly breakfast as Persy's, and maybe Minority Report before the game.

Sunday is relaxing at home, and then the tension-filled Sunday game. Things did not go well last time we played, and there are some reckonings that will be had. Lots of roleplaying, not a lot of dice, I fear.

Kitties! Kitties on the cover!

It's not out yet (August), but I think I'll be taking a look at it, and not just for the kitties on the cover.

Larger picture of the cover can be seen by following this link.

Courtesy of Paula, who IM'd me the link.

Birdcam 2002

The birds have very little of the downy feathers now. They're really starting to look more like the Peregrine falcons they will soon be.

I can't wait for them to start flapping their wings about, ready to take flight.

The Game WISH (Weekly Idea Sharing Hegemony) is a weekly writing exercise for gamers.

So, today's WISH is:

Describe three NPCs (not major villains) that you really liked and what they added to the game. The NPCs can be from any game you've been in as a player or GM, and any system or genre.

Moirin was the son of Moire and Corwin. This was an Amber game (obviously). Lou created him as a major NPC that would pal around with the other PCs. And he gave him ungodly power, which in the hands of a player could have been terrible. Even in the hands of the GM's NPC, it could have been Deus Ex Machina.

But Moirin was so flawed, it hurt to watch him. Lou crafted an NPC who was, above all, human, and he made mistakes all the time. This was where I really learned that NPCs didn't have to be perfect, didn't have to be the ones to provide accurate information to the players, didn't have to be anything other than people. Characters, just like our PCs were.

Second would have to be Cybele, from my Amber game, Which Endureth Forever. She's Oberon's first child, sent away to die (actually be imprisoned) in the early years of Oberon's reign, for falling in love with her half-brother, Benedict. She got pregnant, but refused to name the father, and so was sent to die.

At the start of the game, Cybele's return was prophecied in Tir. It came to pass, because Oberon wanted her returned. Her daughter, a PC, had been raised in very slow-time shadow, and was only 16 (where over a thousand years had passed in Amber).

She fell in love with a PC, reunited with her daughter, has Benedict living under her newly-restablished House in Chaos, and is currently the center of some plot lines I can't mention here because my players read this. I love her because I made her fallible, a wild card that not even Oberon can be sure which way she's going to play. I can easily slip under her skin to play her, and have to slide out again to realize what impact she has just had on the game. She's not a mother, though she's trying. She has no idea how to be one (sort of like me). Not everyone likes her (and she's fine with that), and she's good at plotting, but not good at relationships.

She's helped me add a romance subplot and a mother subplot, along with other plots to the game.

The third NPC would have to be Torm. Yes, the diety from the Forgotten Realms.

Lou ran a Realms game through 2nd Edition, converted to GURPS, for a long time. I joined in late (still AD&D) with an elven ranger with some wild psionic talents. Agraynel, aka Gray, was your typical elf. However, because of some events in the game and her life, she ended up having a very close relationship with Torm, who in Lou's game world was a demigod.

We had a paladin of Torm (Oquon) in the group, and Gray slept with him. She really didn't love him, though. And when the paladin thought himself at fault for getting cursed with lycanthropy and had to atone, Gray called Torm down to answer for Oquon's punishment. And to her surprise, he came down and talked to her.

They had a good relationship from the start, once Torm explained that the atonement was all Oquon's idea. It also didn't help that, later in the game, Torm would talk to Gray by possessing Oquon.

The makings of a terrible love triangle were all right there, but the game died before anything further could happen.

Torm added a "human" element to the gods, which wasn't necessarily a good thing. But in the Realms, where gods are a dime a dozen and often come down for a chat here and there, it made it fun and somewhat believable.

[Man, this was tougher than I thought it'd be at first.]

Wonderfully funny commentary on Avalanche Press' Cover Women.

Favorite line? Well, more a word: Boobhilda.

According to Human For Sale, I am worth $1,725,060.00.

Huh. If I won the lottery, I could buy me! But that's about the only way I can be bought, baby.

Been meaning to do this for a while, just haven't had time.

the tiny blog survey

Ethics/Personal Life:

Has a blog post ever got you into trouble?

In trouble? No. But some friends have indicated I have a TMIblog. Hey, if you don't like it, don't read it. Or read it for the quizzes. You can even go right here and just get the quizzes alone.

How many people do you know face-to-face who read your weblog?

Oh geez...well...(counting)...some? I don't know everyone who reads my blog. I know Anne and Paula and Michael, and Ian. I think there are a few others that read it who don't have blogs or web pages, like Jack, and Betsy has said she's read it (and feels like a voyeur while doing so...hi Betsy!) I know some of the Ann Arbor crowd have read it, and I've met some of them at Ambercons. So, let's say 10.

Have you met any of your regional (or even remote) bloggers?

See, the thing is, many people I know on the 'net I know from online, and I've met them at gatherings, like AmberCons or Feng Shui (Ian and Jeanne). So yes, but before they blogged, not since.

Do you modify or delete posts? How often? Why?

Modify - all the time. To fix errors. Occasionally to add in something I forgot, or to give updates. I've only deleted one post, and that's because it was double-posted.

How much is your weblog a part of your personal identity? Do you feel like people who don't know about your blog don't really know you?

Two parts. Second first. No, I don't think so. My husband doesn't read my blog, and he knows me best out of anyone.

Now, part of my personal identity? Not really. I could still take it or leave it. Maybe I'm just used to it at this point, or am just busy. I'd miss it, but I could deal without it.

How has blogging changed your life?

My friends know more about me than they wanted to know. I find myself sometimes looking at things or experiencing things (like the drive back and forth to NH), and going - "I have to blog about this," or find myself composing part of a blog post in my head.

I don't read my online comics as much as I used to. My morning routine, when I got into work, was to start up email, fire up a browser and hit the three comics I was hooked on. Now, I do the same, but I fire up my blog page and hit all the links.

If I linked to my comics from my page, I'd probably hit them daily.

But other than my husband hearing about what I've blogged from other people, nothing's changed significantly.

Technical/Design:

Do you know how to code at all? Did you learn how to code by blogging?

I've done HTML since very early on. Not pre-images, but back when you'd browse using Mosaic. So I know how to code.

Nothing database-y (tried php...there was a reason why I didn't go into programming in college, even though my mother wished me to desperately), but I can html and stylesheet with the best of 'em.

What weblogging tool do you use and why?

Movable Type. I started out using Blogger, back in the day, then stopped blogging. Started up again last year, using Blogger, then decided I wanted a more reliable tool, something that didn't depend on other's servers for posting. Looked at Greymatter, but it just wasn't intuitive for me.

And I work hard at converting others to MT. Two and a half converts so far. Half because Ian tried, but his host was screwy, and he hasn't bothered after he moved, because the space is only temporary. He says.

Does the design seem like something that is just something that has to be dispensed with in order to be able to write publicly, or is your design an integral part of your writing and presentation?

Design is cool, but not enough for me to spend hours on it. Color schemes are important; I need to play with those some more. And I do have a design in mind for this site that's not so basic Movabletype template-ish. I need to get back to it, though.

By the time I'll do that, I'll want another design, I'll bet.

How many times have you changed your weblog design entirely (or nearly so)?

None, see above.

Readership/Motivation:

How many people would you guess (educated guess based on hit counts/logfiles) read your weblog on a weekly basis at least?

No idea. I'm not a StatHo. I love to look at the referrals, though. I could go look it up, I have Extreme Tracker and SiteMeter, but I'm too lazy.

What have you done to get more people to look at your site?

Nothing other than post.

What one or two characteristics make a blog really popular? Are there things that you could do to have more people read your weblog that you consciously do not do? Why?

There are tons of things I could do, but I'm not blogging for the world to read. That's not why I do it.

I think humor and thoughtful posts are what make a blog really popular. And not humor as links to funny things, but humor in the posts themselves. Like what Doyce often does with his posts, like this one.

I could try to be funny, but it's not me. I could try to be more political, or current-topic active, but I'm not a discussion board. While I love getting comments, I've dealt with the fact that I rarely do.

What really popular weblog do you think most deserves it...and/or least deserves it?

Hrm. I don't read a lot of popular blogs. I read friends' blogs, or acquaintences. People whom I know through mailing lists, mostly the Amber Mailing List, which I'm not even on anymore, or through games.

I think Wil Wheaton's blog is great, but maybe overrated.

And I agree with ***Dave that Doyce deserves to be more popular.

How do you feel about your readership? What makes for a quality readership to you?

Good lord, I have no idea. I love it that people want to read what I have to say, even if they say nothing back to me. I love it that people read quizzes I've posted, and then go off and take them and post the results on their own site. I must admit, I get a little thrill when someone links to me from their blog.

Influence of Other Bloggers:

What other blogger is most responsible for you starting your own weblog.

Urgh. No one. ::sighs::. I think reading articles on blogging back in the day was what got me going the first time. The second time - this time - it was 9/11.

Who was the first other blogger (that you know of) who put you on their sidebar, and how did you feel? How did it influence your blogging?

***Dave, I think. I was thrilled, excited, shared the moment with Anne, and was a geekgirl for a time. Loved it, someone wanted to link to ME, and I was thrilled.

It made me want to write, and better posts. But then I got over it, and relaxed.

What other blogger do you most admire for her writing skills?

Huh. Just realized this says "her", as does the following question. But I must say, it's MT Fierce, though as I was typing this, that changed. I was originally going to say someone else. Huh. Funny how the brain works sometimes.

What other blogger do you most admire for her design skills?

Paula, hands down. And she can write too, when she gets around to it.

Who is a blogger that you think is really good but doesn't get nearly the attention they are worthy of?

Oops, I answered that above. Doyce.

Do you feel obligated to have people on your link lists/sidebars that you never read?

Nope. Those links are there because they're the ones I check daily, or multi-daily.

I really should take Cassie Claire's link off. She's not updating until later this year, and I've got her on my friends list on my LJ anyway. But it does up the number of hits I get from search engines (heh).

What one or two characteristics define a really quality blog (in your humble opinion, of course)?

Didn't I answer this already? Humor and thoughtful posts.

Bonus Question:

Do you fear The Booge?

No, should I?

I just got my MacWorld Expo registration confirmation! This means I really am going!

Oh joy of joys! Oh frabjous day!

Glad I already have my hotel reservations; now I just need to make train reservations. I do hope I get the expense check, so I don't have to pay everything up front. If I do, I will be Most Unhappy, but I have a feeling that's just the way it'll turn out.

Oh yay!

So who's in NYC that wants to meet up for dinner? I'll be there from the 16th (at some time, don't know when I'll get in) until the 19th (leaving mid-afternoon, I hope).

Two Towers Teaser Trailer was leaked out early, and available for download from mirror sites.

Enjoy!

Courtesy of Slashdot.

Update 06/27/02: Removed file and link to the trailer on my site.

The Invisible Library is a listing of fictional books that are only listed in other books.

Such as: Some More of God's Greatest Mistakes by Oolon Colluphid, courtesy of Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Or Buttercup's Baby: S. Morgenstern's glorious examination of courage matched against the death of the heart by S. Morganstern, courtesy of William Goldman's The Princess Bride, o'course.

Go. Read. Lose yourself for a time.

The Digital Bits says:

Also, ADV has announced the DVD release of a Farscape: Season One box set to street on 10/29 (SRP $149.98). The set will feature all 22 episodes on 11 discs, packaged in 6 keep cases with a newly-designed slipcase box. Extras include episode commentaries, conceptual drawings, video profiles. Note that these are the same discs already available individually.

I have just the first two DVDs, now I can get a complete set in one box. Yay!

1. Would you rather die peacefully among friends at 50, or painfully and alone at 80? Assume that most of those thirty years would be "good" ones.
Peacefully at 50. I don't like pain much when it's happening (who does?), but I tend to forget it when it's gone. Still, I don't see the case for 30 more years if I'm going to be in pain. I could deal with the alone thing.

2. Your teen arrives home one night with a big dent in his car fender. You find out the next day there was a hit-and-run in the neighborhood. Would you try to find out if your kid was involved? If you found out s/he was, would you notify the authorities? What if there was a death from the hit-and-run?
Yes, and yes. Even if a hit-and-run. There is no way that it'd not be caught by the police - covering it up would make it worse. I'd want my kid to fess up to me, to be able to do so with the understanding that I'd be behind him/her all the way, helping them through it all. But you have to take responsibility for your actions, otherwise it'll bite you in the ass, in more ways than one.

3. What would the title of your autobiography be (not including your name)?
Oh dear, I have no clue. (chuckles), okay, would that work as a title? No, I know what I'd use.

The Words That Got Away.

Yeah, I like that.

Describe two romantic relationships involving a PC you've seen in a game. One should be a romance that worked for the participants and the other should be one that failed, died, or came to an end. What was good and bad about these relationships from the point of view of plot and character development? How did the GM make the romance appealing to the players?

Narrowing it down to two is very hard. Ingrid's and Moirin's relationship was doomed from the start, and Calypso's (one of Ingrid's other personalities) and Jordan's was similarly doomed. I could spend days talking about how it didn't work for them, but that's just not going to happen.

So, for the romance that worked, I am choosing Jerrym and Rhiannon.

Rhiannon was an NPC I designed for my WEF Amber game, specifically for my husband's PC. She was supposed to be his romantic interest, and there was a possibility that she might be interested in another PC. I was thinking of setting up a triangle. Of course, things never work out as you want them to.

Brennan (Lou's PC) took one look at Rhiannon and promptly called Jerrym and said something along the lines of - "Jerrym, I have a girl for you," handed her off to him, and never looked back.

I can't tell you how upsetting that was to me at the time. He wanted a romance subplot, damnit, and here he was passing the buck...or the girl, in this case.

However, it all turned out well in the end. Rhiannon and Jerrym were perfectly suited for each other. They meshed well together, and it gave me a great way to develop Jerrym's character. It also didn't help that Rhiannon was the daughter of the Evil Villain, but she had a Good Heart and Everything Worked Out Well in the End.

Except the part where she died. There was a potential love triangle developing before this happened with another PC (Ardath, female), and this PC accidentally killed the NPC (well, the NPC threw herself onto PC's sword to keep Daddy the Evil Villain from getting her back). It caused a lot of tension between Jerrym and Ardath.

However, Rhi ended up coming back through mysterious means, and she and Jerrym even produced a child. Rhi was integral to the plot at various points, including removing spells from another PC who had been spell-brainwashed by said Evil Villain.

As to the romance that failed, I am choosing Brianna and Collwyn, from Lou's original Sunday fantasy campaign. They were both PCs.

Bree and Coll were raised as brother and sister, though when Collwyn started to develop elven traits, we knew something was up. Our parents ended up confessing that we were both adopted. Bree was fully human, and Collwyn was a half-elf (obvious, at that point). Bree had hidden her unholy interest from her brother to this point, but when it was revealed that they were not related, she started to think maybe it'd work.

Oh, it so didn't.

As far as plot, the romance had little direct impact. Coll and Bree did not get along well prior to this (for various reasons), and this tension didn't help advance the plot, but it didn't directly hinder it either.

As for character development...this ended up being a Big Thing for Bree. They almost got back together at one point (not that they ever really were "together"), but they just get on each others nerves so quickly and easily that it just didn't work. Coll's player keeps mentioning that he'd come back for her sometime, but she's married now, with a kid, and would probably turn him down.

Probably. Damn Collwyn. She still loves him after all these years. (sigh)

[This week's was only tough in that it took me a while to whittle the list down!]

When was the last time you...

1. ...sent a handwritten letter?
A very, very long time. I don't recall. Probably something I sent home from college, maybe even something earlier than that. I don't handwrite very well; I hold a pencil/pen wrong, and it hurts to write like that after a short period of time. So I prefer to type.

2. ...baked something from scratch or made something by hand?
Hrm. I bake every now and then, but I think the last thing I made was cookies in February. Three batches of cake mix cookies. I keep meaning to do sugar cookies, but I never get around to it.

3. ...camped in a tent?
Probably when I was in high school. We had a tent we'd sometimes put up in the yard, and sleep out there. Maybe not high school, maybe middle school, now that I think about it.

4. ...volunteered your time to church, school, or community?
I don't. Don't belong to a church, don't go to school (though I work at one), and I'm not involved in my community. So I'd have to go all the way back to college, when I did extra work at the barn, like mucking out stalls and such.

5. ...helped a stranger?
Someone asked Lou and me for directions on the street two weeks ago, when we were walking. We hopefully gave him the right direction to go; English was not his native language, and we weren't sure what he wanted was where he thought it was. But we tried.

Julia is a fractal set.

Julia is America's Sweetheart.

Julia is a master chef.

Julia received the Indiana Fair Trade Award.

Julia is Romancing Mister Bridgerton.

Julia is a purveyor of fine books.

Julia is an architect whose work is on display at CalPoly, and has her own Center for the Arts.

Julia inspires tree huggin' hippies.

Julia is an entertaining agent.

Julia lost his nose and had to wear a leather strap across his face for the rest of his life.

Julia had a bit part in The Bourne Identity.

Julia is a Secret Lover.

and lastly...

Julia says It's been nice. Good-bye.

Glyneth is me, many times, in many places.

Glyneth agrees with Raecyn.

Glyneth is a scary looking woman.

Glyneth the swordswoman yells!

Glyneth is rescued from a carnivorous troll, made a princess, grown up to be a charming and beautiful maiden, and gives birth to a daughter.

Glyneth is sweet, brave, and pretty, and could be played by Anna Chlumsky, Sandra Bullock, Kate Winslet, or Juliette Lewis.

Glyneth is positive, self-assertive, and independent.

Glyneth cooks Welsh food.

Glyneth is Mr. Blackwell misspelling Gwyneth Paltrow.

Glyneth is Certified Staff.

Glyneth produced a new choral work.

Glyneth was married to Floyd Raymond.

and lastly...

Glyneth was adopted by mountaingem!, along with Wennonah.