Story Episode #8

Before I could change my mind, I closed my eyes and contacted Jack.  The bastard was VRing.  I appeared right in the middle of what appeared to be a typically epic battle between the Ferengi and the Starship Enterprise.  Jack was unfazed by my appearance and continued to shout orders from the captain chair.  I looked down at myself and sighed in resignation, the goddamn VR had clothed me in a red and black unitard.  I knew better than to interrupt Jack in one of his frequent forays into old Sci-Fi, who knows, maybe this time he was actually doing some research.  Unlikely, but possible.  Always best to give him the benefit of the doubt.  I was about to go search the ship for the holodeck when Jack suddenly looks up and recognizes me.  He makes the "pause scene" motion and we're suspended in time.
"I assume you have good news?"  He leaned back in his chair and pressed his fingertips together, classic, though cliché...


While doing a small bit of research for this part, I came across this: Blue Stripe: The Life and Times of a Holodeck Janitor, which is an interesting bit of reading. 

Story Episode #7

Eventually, after much anguish, I found myself in front of the most ordinary house in the county.  Not because it looked the same as all the other houses, though it did.  No, it had a certain je ne sais quoi that caused it to fade into your subconscious, you know it's there, but if someone were to ask you to recall anything at all about it, it would appear blurry and nondescript in your mind's eye.  I opened the gate and walked towards the front door, but instead of ringing the doorbell, I walked to the side of the house, which was hidden from view from the neighbors and from people walking their dog by a tall, healthy shrub.  And then I walked through the wall.

Once out of sight and in safety, I gingerly lowered the backpack and unhooked it from my arms.  Before I could change my mind, I closed my eyes and contacted Jack.  The bastard was VRing.

Story Episode #6

The sirens were deafening as the police arrived, loud enough to cover my grunts of discomfort as the durians poked into my back.  I knew I should have splurged and gotten the model that allows you to self-inflate a cushion for the back.

Nevertheless, I trudged on.  The day was full of light and waves of heat washed up against me from the ground but the warmth that surrounded me at every turn wasn't able to soak into my bones and ease the coldness I felt there.  With every step my back felt like it was being hammered by a spiked mace.  I imagined my shirt slowly being soaked and saturated and the droplets leading a path for everyone to follow.  Eventually, after much anguish, I found myself in front of the most ordinary house in the county.  Not because it looked the same as all the other houses, though it did.  No, it had a certain je ne sais quoi that caused it to fade into your subconscious, you know it's there, but if someone were to ask you to recall anything at all about it, it would appear blurry and nondescript in your mind's eye.

Story Episode #5

Three durians the size of my head were wrapped neatly in clear heavy-duty shrink wrap, they smelled about a week from being optimally ripe, just in time.  I carefully unfolded the backpack I had in my pocket and shook it out.  The wind caused a flurry of white powder and amidst the fake winter, I gingerly picked up the durian package with my hands and once they were securely in the backpack, I slowly donned the pack and took the back exit.  The sirens were deafening as the police arrived, loud enough to cover my grunts of discomfort as the durians poked into my back.  I knew I should have splurged and gotten the model that allows you to self-inflate a cushion for the back.

Story Episode #4

As I crossed the threshold and my eyes adjusted to the dim, powder-caked everything, I instantly recognized what it was I came to retrieve. This post office contained a trophy case of all the various bowling and charity events the employees had participated in.  It also contained the unmistakable stench of durian fruit.

At one point in the history of the human race, it was illegal to ship durians by most means because of its pungent odor.  It's something you either love or hate, and if you were a hater, the faint waft of the smell could cause dry heaves.  Nowadays, you shut up and donned your face mask if you had to come into contact with the fruit.

I let my nose lead me to the shipment.  As I rounded the corner and saw the package, I whistled in appreciation.  Jack had really gotten good intel on this one.  Three durians the size of my head were wrapped neatly in clear heavy-duty shrink wrap, they smelled about a week from being optimally ripe, just in time.


So, I have been reminded that it is Nanowrimo, and while I've been wracking by brain for any sort of idea that I could conceivably write thousands and thousands of words about and be able to re-read over and over again without being utterly blargh, so far, nothing.  Some half formed ideas of a sci-fantasy story that I thought of a year or two ago about a world that we discovered that is basically based on our fairy tales.  Chock full of unicorns and such.  They fed off of and evolved from our imaginations.  And today on the bus, children with special abilities, starting with a boy who every night when he went to bed, would in his sleep grow a special hair that in the morning, when he woke up and it fell out, would either create a creature (bunny, etc.).

Wherein I Get Puppies

I am now an owner of two (2) Pekapoos, which are a Pekingese and Poodle mix.  They are six months old.  Today is the first full day we've had them.

So where to start?  They are of course very very cute.  They really need a grooming though, the black one (Kyuubi II) has really long hair and the white one (Sophie) was recently trimmed but their hair still has clumps in it from the cedar that was in their living area from the seller.  Unfortunately, the grooming place we've chosen doesn't have any spots open today and we have an appointment for Noon on Monday.  They're also seeing the Vet for their first checkup on Monday at 9 AM.  :( I have to work so I won't be there, but it's Columbus Day, so Z has the day off :).

We're having trouble getting them to eat and drink.  They just don't seem very interested.  We bought some Cesar Puppy wet food and we'll be trying that later tonight.  We have three different kinds of treats, hot dogs, peanut butter, and bully sticks.  So far only the latter two they're interested in and Kyuubi II seems to like cottage cheese.

I'm about 1/3 of the way through How to Raise the Perfect Dog by Cesar Millan.  It's been interesting so far, but the only thing I've taken away from it is exerting a calm-assertive demeanor.  Which I guess is pretty important.

PAX 2010

Today was the last day of PAX Prime 2010.  It was great as usual.  Much much more relaxed this year than previous years, mostly because I've finally given up on winning swag/getting a bunch of free stuff.  This economy just isn't cut out for the type of treasure looting I like.

Highlights include:

• Winning diamonds* from the Monaco booth!  I'd been thinking about winning them actually ever since I read the article and the guy was so nice!  I played it once on Friday but it was with two little kids and basically we had a hard time working together and everyone died.  The second time he basically waved the bag of diamonds* in my face and was like, go ahead and play a game and you'll get these.  I got the most points out of my group but the Locksmith class usually does and he didn't really mention any sort of contest..  Anyway it was awesome.  *i.e. 10 Cubic Zirconia

• The final Omegathon battle was 15 rounds of The Claw!  The plushies were all so cute!  Zach and I got great seats up in the balcony section, actually right across the room from Scott Kurtz.  This year's game was no less epic than any of the others.  Though it was definitely swankier being in Benaroya than being crammed up next to sweaty BO boys in a huge room, but at the same time, it's nice to be able to jump up and down and have the room charged with energy.  Benaroya's ceilings are just a little too high for good energy containment.

• I bought Volumes 1-6 of Scott Pilgrim and also got a T-shirt, two wristbands and a sticker.  I read through them all during this weekend, though I got a head start at my friends' house several weeks ago.

• I got to hot tub for a bit on Sat. at my hotel.  It was pretty nice.

• I played Monty Python Fluxx with a bunch of strangers while waiting in line for the final Omegathon round and didn't win, they were nice to me, but also a bunch of jerks.

SIFF 2010

So we watched 4 movies during SIFF 2010.  Friday night was a midnight showing of Fight Club, the next day, Leaves of Grass, the day after that, Utopia in Four Movements, then the day after that The Wild Hunt.

Utopia was the only movie that wasn't filled with beating/deaths.  Funnily enough, Fight Club was the least death-ridden.  Only one death, and his name was Robert Paulson.  Leaves of Grass had the most deaths, with about 5 deaths, and The Wild Hunt ended up being very violent for people with foam swords etc. and had at least three deaths.

What do I take away from watching four movies in four days?
(1) I do not want to get beaten up or shot.
(2) It is hard to be optimistic when human beings have such a high potential for really fucking shit up. Especially when things get crazy.
(3) [insert cliché redeeming human quality and/or witty funny].

Seriously though, my first SIFF was pretty cool and seeing Edward Norton was pretty awesome.  Fight Club is still one of my most favorite movies ever and I've probably seen it more times than any other movie (though maybe not my Disney movies when I was a kid (i.e. Bambi, Beauty & the Beast, the Little Mermaid)).  Anyway, I'm looking forward to next year's gluttony of movies.

I Want to Have Your Abortion

Just finished watching Fight Club on the big screen with hundreds of other people. I've probably seen the movie about a dozen times now. One of the few movies that I've seen all the way through on commentary.

This time it was different. I'm no longer as reckless or restless as I used to be. It used to be that after watching the movie, it would alter the way I viewed the world and acted and I would have all this pent-up aggression and energy. The last time I watched it was in college and I ended up running laps around the UW fountain in the middle of the night. Now I guess I just feel like blogging.

Slicing my finger open and going through the excruciating pain that was getting "numbed" and getting three stitches in my flesh has reawakened my sense of frailty as a human, awe at the amazing ability of the body to heal, and OMG WE CAN FUCK OURSELVES UP SO EASILY. It is a goddamned miracle that the majority of us manage to go through life with all ten fingers and toes, and die of old age.

The movie certainly doesn't answer what should be the purpose and goal of life but it does give you the freedom to realize that you do have a choice. YOU are making all of the decisions here and at least you're probably more aware of it than Jack/Tyler.