Archive for the ‘Blogosphere’ Category
All My Teeth Are White Again
Or… mostly white-ish. Okay, kind of ivory.
What I mean to say is, all my fillings are no longer metallic. This was accomplished a few weeks ago, now, but I was just reminded about dentist-related-things by reading back-entries from a new blog I found. Oh blogosphere, how thou hast pained me with my own memories.
Okay, I know I swore off talking about my teeth too much in this blog. But that’s pretty much all I’m going to do in this post, so if you don’t like it, bugger off and read something else.
My dentist has bee pretty swell. She’s nice, patient, and even gives me breaks from the drilling when I start to cry. The hygienists and various assistants have all also been nice to me. Even the lady at the front desk is pretty nice when she isn’t asking me to give her hundreds (and occasionally *gag* thousands) of dollars.
But still, I hate the dentist. I couldn’t tell you what it is. I’m not afraid, per se, I just hate it. I hate the smell. I hate the sounds. I hate holding my mouth open for so long. I hate everything about it.
Her place isn’t so bad I guess. It’s in a house, rather than an industrial building. It’s got a friendly smiling tooth on the sign outside the door. The sign is even a lovely shade of purple. She has all the newest technology and supports all the latest ideals of healthy teeth and gums. She seems to have even found a way to reduce that dentist smell.
My first visit, all she did was take pictures, really. But even that made me anxious. The X-ray technology, even as new and fancy as it is now, still requires stuff in your mouth. And then there’s that mirror *gag* (literally).
A couple times ago, I was just sitting in the chair, waiting for the novocaine to take effect, and I just started to cry. I couldn’t stop it. I hate the dentist that much! In fact, she even knows this. As I was fighting my mouth to stay open to get “the anesthetic” (I think she thinks it sounds nicer than “novocaine “) during my last visit, I mumbled something like, “I don’t like this.”
She immediately said, “No, you hate this.”
But with all of my hatred for the dentist, why was it so hard for me to tell her that I need to go to someone closer to where I live now? I loathed the thought of telling her I was leaving. I was afraid to disappoint her. But seriously, driving an hour to the western suburbs at the crack of dawn just for a dentist only to fight the east-bound rush hour traffic and to pay $20 to park in Boston when I’m through is a little ridiculous.
I told her. She said she’d help me find someone up in my new area. She reassured me that I had improved dramatically. That I was on the right track, and she was happy to have sent me that way.
I almost cried.
Then I realized I was crying at the loss of a dentist, and I carried on with my general business. That would be the business of closing my eyes, opening my mouth, and balling up my hands so tight I lose circulation in my finger tips.
Call Me Inept
Call me Inept.
My shiny new half hour commute took me an hour and twenty minutes today. Want to know how to do that? Here are some step by step instructions:
1. Walk out the door at 7:00 and discover that it’s cold out. Realize that your coat is still packed. Dig through the boxes in the closet until you find the one marked “coats.” Dig through the coats and find your coat at the bottom of the rather large box. Put on your coat. Walk out the door.
2. Drive from to Malden. See a sign welcoming you to Melrose. Wonder where the hell Melrose is. Find Main St. Breathe a sigh of relief. Drive to Malden.
3. Park at Oak Grove. Find parking space. Space is too narrow. Try parking there anyway. Readjust twelve times. Squeeze out through narrow door opening.
4. Put monthly pass in Charlie Pass doohickey. Rejected. Try another booth. Rejected. Try another booth. Rejected. Look in ticket window. No one there. Look in other ticket window. No one there. Stand there confused. Get approached by MBTA employee. Try with her watching. Light says “already used.” She tells you to wait 20 minutes.
5. Decide to buy a “token” instead. Discover that tokens are no good here. Buy a single ride Charlie Pass instead. Insert Charlie Pass with her watching. Get instructions for use tomorrow.
6. Go to platform. Watch train pull away. Get on stationary train. Wait a few minutes until that train pulls away.
7. Get off at Chinatown. Walk up stairs. Feel confident that you know exactly where you are. Stop at the Double D to grab a muffin. Walk like you know where you’re going.
8. Walk by the Super 88.
9. Wait, what? No. Discover that you’re in the completely wrong place. Retrace your steps. Pick a random road you’ve heard of before. Walk like you know where you’re going.
10. Find yourself in front of the NEMC T stop. Whimper. Walk like you know where you’re going.
11. Bail on Stuart St. because you think you’ve gone the wrong way on it. Wander aimlessly. See Mass Pike. Follow it West. Find Arlington St. Celebrate. Walk like you know where you’re going.
12. Cross Stuart St. Oops.
13. Arrive at Boylston St. Ride the elevator up to the 11th floor. Sit at your desk at 8:23.
P.S. I’m not dead, just extremely busy. New job == shitty commute == tired Diane == moving Diane == packing == tired Diane == hired movers == moved == slowly settling Diane. I haven’t read anyone else’s blogs either. I’ve been cut off.
Consider this entry a bonus, as I promised some people I would start up again in June. I make no promises of anything else happening before June.
I missed you too, blogosphere.
The Wait is Killing Me
Thanks to my friend Ty, and Mike’s habit of reading the internet on weekends, I watched a supremely awesome video the other day. You should go watch it too. It will take a while, as it’s not short, but definitely go. Especially if you love video games. And Darwin. And six-legged monsters with only three knees. And Care Bears.
After watching that video, I decided that I must own and play that video game. Unfortunately for me, and now for you, seeing as I’ve just gotten you super excited about it, we will have to wait. Rumors are of a release in Q4, but I have no direct linkage to that effect. I am left wondering if the release is delayed due to the fact that no one actually owns a powerful enough computer to run the game…
Since Saturday, when I first saw that video, I have been imagining how I would play. I think I would aim for a circular type creature, maybe with dozens of legs, similar to a caterpillar. I could go either way with the temperament. Maybe give it some menacing weapons for killing and eating smaller critters, or possibly going all plant-eater neo-hippy. Either way, when we got a space ship, we would totally create a galactic empire. Maybe we could even name our UFO the Enterprise!
So what if I like Star Trek? (Joe – I totally understand)
I am so awestruck at this game, and the concepts in it, that I’m having a difficult time putting it to text. Really, the only way to describe it is, “Spore – the game where you play God.” But even saying that wouldn’t fully encompass the awesome.
I’m a software engineer, by trade. As such, I can appreciate much of the awesomeness that must have gone into this game. It must have been bouncing around in Will Wright’s head for decades (GameSpot said, “…it seem[ed] almost as if he had been waiting his whole life to design this game”). The development can’t have been started less than three years ago, if not longer. Just the AIs required would be a huge undertaking, and that’s not even the half of it.
The truly groundbreaking part of the game is its very nature. The player creates something from scratch. There is no set model that has been pre-rendered. There are no set movements that are associated with such a model. The game provides no reasonable limits on what a player can do. So, the only logical way to do this is programmatically. How awesome is it that the game adapts the creature’s movement and behaviors just based on the way it looks. I think it’s awesome.
Awesome!
You know what, I’m pretty sure this even qualifies for:
I think, perhaps, I am getting a bit out of hand. Also, I’m pretty sure this entry has been somewhat scatterbrained. You should know that I visited the dentist today, and am therefore a little teeny tiny itsy bit distracted. Okay, thoroughly distracted. But who cares! Spore is coming!
Ear Wax
Uh oh! Not a metablog!
I totally couldn’t come up with anything to blog about today, so I almost didn’t bother. I just went through my day doing work like things, enjoying my one-meeting day, and nervously looking up at the clanking vent above my desk. My iPod happily filled my ears with a wide range of random music, my trip to the noodle restaurant filled my stomach with tasty shrimp wonton noodle soup, and a trip to the administrator’s desk filled my sweet tooth need for candy.
I took the last few minutes to take a stroll through my favorite webcomics (I should link to those… maybe later), and I found this User Friendly strip. I totally understood.
Some days, I really want to blog, but there’s just nothing. I mean, really, my life just isn’t all that interesting every day. Some days are interesting, though, I swear!
Here’s a list of things I’ve almost blogged about, but didn’t because, well… lame.
- Plants
- Chicken
- Paper airplanes
- Telephones
- My favorite color
- The random junk on my desk
I’ve never gotten so desperate as to even think about writing about ear wax. If I ever do, shoot me.
I Made These
So, occasionally, I go read Mike D’s blog. Usually, it’s when Jon Abad mentions something about his site, or the House of Rock, or somesuch. Why I don’t have MikeD’s blog in Bloglines, I couldn’t tell you. For that matter, how about I rectify that right now. I’ll even put the link on this website. Holy moly!
Anyway, a bit of a while ago, Mike D put up a link to his ever so awesome flipbook depicting a train, among other things.
Mike D just so happens to be a super-expert at MS Paint (as you will witness when you check out his site). That skill translates beautifully to the realm of flipbook. I happen to be an expert at sucking at drawing. That translates to… uh… well… good thing God let me be good at other things, huh!
But that didn’t stop me from making a couple videos myself. Why? Because. They aren’t the most awesome things ever, but if you like fireworks and tulips, you might like looking at them. Really, what it should do is inspire you to make your own flipbook, because you can do better!
At any rate, I made these. “KaBOOM!” is from a couple weeks ago, and “Spring” is more recent. Have fun playing with flipbooks!
Not as Cool as Mrs. Head
[Editor's Note: If you don't know what Roshambo is, you should read up on it first. Then, if you want to practice, try out the Roshambot. My winning percentage after 20 throws was 5%. Not so hot, actually, but better than losing.]
I’m no poker blogger. I’ve never been to Vegas. I’ve never met Phil Gordon in person. I’m just not as cool as Mrs. Head. (Don’t know what I’m talking about? Start here. Then read this, then this, and finally finish off here. Trust me when I say this is an awesome story.)
I have no idea how we got to 1-1 and a giggling stare down at the Sole on Friday. Well, that’s not entirely true. I’m pretty sure the day started off normally. I’m also pretty sure we had started the day with no intention of being in Worcester that night. But the weather predictions at the time were grim for Saturday evening, and weather.com recommended we complete all travels by late afternoon Saturday, so we traded in our Saturday tickets for Friday tickets to see Much Ado About Nothing as directed by the lovely Kelly.
Confused yet?
Kelly’s cast did a fabulous job putting up the Shakespeare play Much Ado About Nothing. It was very funny, as it should be, and the language didn’t seem to tongue-tie anyone. The interaction was great, and the bubbling fountain was extravagant. Well done.
After the show, we were chatting in the Little Theatre for approximately forever. Finally, Kelly kicked us out. and five of us went on down to the Sole for expensive drinks. Mike was not thrilled. He seemed to get over it, however, when his margarita was delivered in a pint glass. My mojito was similarly large, and definitely powerful. Chris and Rob shared a bowl, and Dave went for something completely different – cappuccino. (I bet you thought I was going to say Diet Coke.)
We were talking and drinking for quite a while, and I really couldn’t tell you how the topic of conversation got around to Roshambo, but it did. Next thing you know, I’m challenging Mike… or did he challenge me… to a best two out of three battle. We reassured each other on the rules – straight out of “The Nuts” features ESPN’s WSOP broadcasts. One – Two – Shoot. No three. Shoot on “shoot.” Ready? Okay.
I started the match with rock, to get a feel for Mike’s state of mind. Obviously, we were on the same wavelength, as he also threw rock. No matter. We started again. Rock and rock, again! Okay, I think, he must be going avalanche. The right answer to that would be paper. Oh no! He’s in my mind! Paper and paper! Three shoots, three ties! I started giggling uncontrollably. Chris and Dave could not believe their eyes: the match was so matched. Rob could not believe his eyes: we were actually playing “Rock-Paper-Scissors” in a fancy restaurant.
I thought through my process some more, looking for a hole in Mike’s game. Scissors would be an obvious answer to paper, but he won’t do paper again. But he’ll think the same thing about me. So it will have to be rock. But that’s what he’ll think… In some round about way, I ended up with scissors. Damn it! Another tie! This was getting out of control. But I could handle it. Paper! Five shoots, five ties?! Whoa. This is one for the ages.
Okay, let’s settle down. We were all giggling. Someone kept saying something about the odds of that happening were outrageous. I took a cosmic breath, stared Mike down, and “One – Two – Shoot!” Rock! And he had scissors! I was up one! Awesome! I took the obvious approach in the next shoot, and my scissors were smashed by his rock. We were tied, once again, but now the game was on the line.
“One – Two – Shoot!” Tied on rock. Deep breath. Giggle. Another deep breath. “One – Two – Shoot!” Paper! And what’s that? Is that… a rock?! WOOT!
The giggling continued for several minutes, as we explained the stories we’d seen and heard about Roshambo. Mike discussed his theory for how to go up against the great Phil Gordon. I’m doubtful of his potential for success, but he might be able to get one up on his first shoot, if he’s careful.
Unfortunately, no money, nor any worldly possession, was on the line. Pride, however, was out there to be taken. I am totally awesome. I’d challenge you… but… I don’t know… I’d hate to take your pride away. Heh… heh…
Remember When Smileys Were Cool?
When I was in high school, I was Queen of the Internet. You didn’t know? What rock were you hiding under? I was totally Queen! I was! I swear!
Okay, fine. I wasn’t Queen. I was a pauper wearing a pretty dress. Fine.
I was, however, exceptionally good at instant messenger. I was capable of having multiple IM conversations at once. Even as many as ten or more. This drove my mother absolutely batty.
My mom has always liked to know what’s going on in my life. She would poke her head into the office where the computer was, and watch me alt-tab my way around, typing at my ridiculous speed. She would sometimes get angry, thinking that I was hiding things from her, because she couldn’t read the IM windows as fast as I cycled through them. But I wasn’t doing any such thing – that’s just how I existed. My social life was anti-social.
I told some friends at work about this IM über-skill and they told me it wasn’t anything to be proud of. Yet, I share it on the internet anyway. What’s wrong with me?
Anyway, back in the day of AOL and IM and AIM-bombs and personal webpages with no content and frame wars and webrings, I was Queen. (I say so, so it is true!) I had all of those things in my control. I even had a proto-blog where I whined about my crappy minimum wage job. And while all of this happened, smileys were evolving.
First, it was :-) and :-(. But I found those to be too tedious to type, so I went with the :) model. My left-handed friend wanted to be special, so he went this way (=. There was ;) and :/ and :P. And the smileys weren’t always enough. Sometimes you had to resort to text *g* for grin and *rae* for “raising an eyebrow” (a skill which I actually possess… but only for my left eyebrow… someday I will conquer the ability to raise either eyebrow independently, and then I will conquer the world!). There was brb, afk, and bak (because “back” was too hard to spell out); and there was lol, rotfl, and rotflmao (I once saw someone try to pronounce that as if it were a word…). There were abbreviations you needed codes to look up before you could begin to understand.
But the greatest of all of these was by far the smileys.
On Monday, my next-cube-neighbor at work and I came to the same conclusion involving a department-wide email. We simultaneously IMed each other the same sentiment, and things got out of hand from there. I’ll let you take a look for yourself. The first two smileys were ones from AIM’s drop down list that you may recognize.
me: :-P
him: >:o
me: Why isn’t there a “snarky-smiley”
me: I would draw such a thing like this
him: Oh, were you snarky? I was actually pissed.
me: >:~/
him: Kidding of course
him: Wow…
me: No… it gets better
him: Your nose gets crooked when you’re snarky.
me: Never mind
me: I cannot improve on the original
me: Of course it does[At this point, I stood up to demonstrate my snarky face, in which my nose is definitely crooked.]
him: |=&(:^>)~
him: Okay, that’s the silliest one I have ever come up with
me: Interesting hat…
me: And also beard?
him: Yes. Chef’s hat, with crazy & hair
me: But only one whisker?
him: Well, he’s a villainous chef. He spends all day twirling the beard, so it appears to be only one strand.
me: Ah, how very stealthy.
me: Stealthy?
me: What?
me: Uh… how very … uh… evil!
him: Yup.– IM conversation from approximately noon on Monday, January 23
– Spelling was changed to protect the innocent.
– Content was not.
Chuck Noris Day
Apparently, today is Chuck Norris Day. Here I am, minding my own business, reading my daily blogs (it’s like reading the daily newspaper, only much less sophisticated), and I’m surrounded!
First, Jon Abad, a fellow WPI grad, pointed out a “quickie” reference to a Tony Danza interview with Chuck Norris. (Perhaps, if you are not familiar with the concept of “Chuck Norris Facts,” you might want to visit this one last.)
Then, while catching up on WWdN:IE, I found Wil’s reference to a Chuck Norris sighting from back in the day. I thought that was a little weird, but I kind of let it slip from my mind through the rest of the day.
Now, I see that Bloglines has marked Al Can’t Hang‘s blog as updated, and he starts today’s post with a quote from Chuck Norris Facts. (Newcomers to “Chuck Norris Facts,” this is your starting point.)
Okay, that pretty much caused my brain to explode. I popped out of a pretty productive state of working and had to tell you all about Chuck Norris. It’s insane. I suppose I’ll also link you to The Man’s official website as well. Just so you can get the full effect of Chuck Norris Day.
“In a fight between Batman and Darth Vader, the winner would be Chuck Norris.”
– Chuck Norris Facts