Boxes and stuffs
Monday, September 8, 2008
Sunday, September 7, 2008
WWVMD
As in “What would Vic Mackey do?”
We went to the movies today, to see Pixar’s new flick, Wall-E. All the Pixar movies except Cars are lined up in our DVD shelf, I’m an avid sci-fi fan and we’ve both been charmed by the trailers, so expectations were high. Without spoiling it for anyone, I can say that it wasn’t as brilliant as I wanted it to be.
I need to see it again though. Why? Because of the father-daughter combo next to me that just wouldn’t shut up. “What’s that?” “Why did he do that?” “Why is that thing glowing?” “What did he do now?” An endless stream of questions. I seriously considered going The Shield on their asses.
Instead, I told them to shut up. Once. It didn’t help. So I glowered and sulked instead. Very positive for my mental health.
I’m also considering applying the Vic Mackey brand of justice to our next door neighbor. She smokes like a chimney, and it’s starting to seep into our apartment. We’ve had to air out our bedroom lately before we go to bed.
But again, I won’t be kicking in her door, Smith & Wesson in hand. Instead, I’ll call our landlord tomorrow and complain. It’s the grownup thing to do.
Oh. On our way home we met a frog. Meet the frog.
We went to the movies today, to see Pixar’s new flick, Wall-E. All the Pixar movies except Cars are lined up in our DVD shelf, I’m an avid sci-fi fan and we’ve both been charmed by the trailers, so expectations were high. Without spoiling it for anyone, I can say that it wasn’t as brilliant as I wanted it to be.
I need to see it again though. Why? Because of the father-daughter combo next to me that just wouldn’t shut up. “What’s that?” “Why did he do that?” “Why is that thing glowing?” “What did he do now?” An endless stream of questions. I seriously considered going The Shield on their asses.
Instead, I told them to shut up. Once. It didn’t help. So I glowered and sulked instead. Very positive for my mental health.
I’m also considering applying the Vic Mackey brand of justice to our next door neighbor. She smokes like a chimney, and it’s starting to seep into our apartment. We’ve had to air out our bedroom lately before we go to bed.
But again, I won’t be kicking in her door, Smith & Wesson in hand. Instead, I’ll call our landlord tomorrow and complain. It’s the grownup thing to do.
Oh. On our way home we met a frog. Meet the frog.
The Net is a waste of time, and that's exactly what's right about it
I’ve been a regular user of the Internet (the technical term is BBI, Big Bad Internet) since the early 90’s. I like the Internet. The whole idea of a basically unrestricted playground and repository of knowledge appeals to me on oh so many levels.
Currently I’m a fairly active member of Facebook and Helgon (the first one because I’m a follower, not a leader, and the second one to come closer to my inner goth) and post on a few music forums as well. I have a plethora of email addresses for various purposes (my beardy one, a serious one for sending out job applications and such, two for various games and an old one or two still sloshing about) and, as you know, recently decided to start this
blog as well. The BBI is my friend. We cuddle every day.
And therein lays the problem. Maintaining a digital presence is time consuming. I have no intention of ever stopping completely, but right now I have more important things to focus on, so as of now I’m declaring this “Internet at home free week”. I can check email and communities and stuff from work. As of Monday morning, I won’t turn my private laptop on until Saturday morning.
Alright, so I’m cheating. Five days. Call it “Internet at home free workweek”. Longest. Title. Ever. Unless you count Red Sparowes.
Currently I’m a fairly active member of Facebook and Helgon (the first one because I’m a follower, not a leader, and the second one to come closer to my inner goth) and post on a few music forums as well. I have a plethora of email addresses for various purposes (my beardy one, a serious one for sending out job applications and such, two for various games and an old one or two still sloshing about) and, as you know, recently decided to start this
blog as well. The BBI is my friend. We cuddle every day.
And therein lays the problem. Maintaining a digital presence is time consuming. I have no intention of ever stopping completely, but right now I have more important things to focus on, so as of now I’m declaring this “Internet at home free week”. I can check email and communities and stuff from work. As of Monday morning, I won’t turn my private laptop on until Saturday morning.
Alright, so I’m cheating. Five days. Call it “Internet at home free workweek”. Longest. Title. Ever. Unless you count Red Sparowes.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Predictability
Once again, welcome to Like/Don’t like Saturdays.
beardonaut likes:
Hangover TV: How I Met Your Mother, Scrubs, Family Guy, The Amazing Race, Dead Fish, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc. I’ve been awake for over 15 hours now, at least 13 of which have been spent on the couch, watching TV. I will continue to bask in TV's warm glowing glow.
beardonaut doesn’t like:
Hangovers. If I wasn’t suffering from it today, I would research the biology of it all, as outlined briefly here. Instead, I say good night.
beardonaut likes:
Hangover TV: How I Met Your Mother, Scrubs, Family Guy, The Amazing Race, Dead Fish, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc. I’ve been awake for over 15 hours now, at least 13 of which have been spent on the couch, watching TV. I will continue to bask in TV's warm glowing glow.
beardonaut doesn’t like:
Hangovers. If I wasn’t suffering from it today, I would research the biology of it all, as outlined briefly here. Instead, I say good night.
I thrive on chaos
It’s been a hectic week. We launched new products on Wednesday, and I had to work my bearded ass off to fix all the minor (and some not so minor) glitches that always appear before, during and after such a launch. Monday through Thursday, as well as a few days in the week before, were intense.
On Wednesday I met two friends, who’ve never met before, for dinner and a beer or two. A fine time was had. Meat was eaten, though not by all. TV shows and politics and work were discussed. It was a very unpretentious get-together. I need to meet more of my friends outside of the usual circumstances in which we meet.
On Thursday I had my creative writing group (“crony huddle” being the term our teacher uses). Another fine time was had. Stories were read. Stories were discussed. I always come away from those meetings with a mixed feeling of inspiration and terror. There are such good writers in the class and in my huddle that I sometimes feel like I should format my hard drive and stop playing at being a writer, but at the same time the energy that I bring with me from the huddles is so powerful that I couldn’t live with myself unless I channeled it into words on a page.
And last night was the annual party at our company. Over 1000 people, a Russian mafia theme and plenty o’ drinks.
Yes. It's a boa.
The hat is several sizes too small. 99.99 percent of all hats are.
A very good time was had. Perhaps too good, judging by the size of the scrap metal salvage yard that decided to open shop inside my head today. I blame the co-worker who managed to score I don’t know how many bottles of wine. I never drink. Wine.
And not really never, but rarely. I’m more of a beer person. But the wine was there, it was free and it fit the hat and the boa and the whole theme of the evening. Though the champagne and caviar we had during intermission between the information part and the party part was even more fitting.
On Wednesday I met two friends, who’ve never met before, for dinner and a beer or two. A fine time was had. Meat was eaten, though not by all. TV shows and politics and work were discussed. It was a very unpretentious get-together. I need to meet more of my friends outside of the usual circumstances in which we meet.
On Thursday I had my creative writing group (“crony huddle” being the term our teacher uses). Another fine time was had. Stories were read. Stories were discussed. I always come away from those meetings with a mixed feeling of inspiration and terror. There are such good writers in the class and in my huddle that I sometimes feel like I should format my hard drive and stop playing at being a writer, but at the same time the energy that I bring with me from the huddles is so powerful that I couldn’t live with myself unless I channeled it into words on a page.
And last night was the annual party at our company. Over 1000 people, a Russian mafia theme and plenty o’ drinks.
Yes. It's a boa.The hat is several sizes too small. 99.99 percent of all hats are.
A very good time was had. Perhaps too good, judging by the size of the scrap metal salvage yard that decided to open shop inside my head today. I blame the co-worker who managed to score I don’t know how many bottles of wine. I never drink. Wine.
And not really never, but rarely. I’m more of a beer person. But the wine was there, it was free and it fit the hat and the boa and the whole theme of the evening. Though the champagne and caviar we had during intermission between the information part and the party part was even more fitting.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
These are my tombs
I’m a fairly serious music fan. Or rather, music is a very serious thing to me. I have very firm opinions on what I like and don’t like. And above all, what everyone else should like. I’m always right. Except in some cases when I’m up against mistlur…
But sometimes things happen that take it to a whole other level of seriousness even for me.
In November 2006, my friend Henrik passed away. I found out in a very strange way, that I won’t go into now, since it’s a long story, but I was at work and took it hard. I basically just packed up my stuff and rushed out of there. Like always, I pulled on my headphones and pressed Play.
Converge’s “Grim Heart/Black Rose” came on. It’s the only song off “No Heroes” where they use clean, melodious lyrics instead of Bannon’s tortured screams, and at almost ten minutes it’s five times longer than the average song on that album. It’s one of those songs that just builds and builds, layer upon layer of melodies and emotion, until it explodes in all-out Converge signature chaos. I walked to the subway in tears.
Since then that song has been associated with him, and his death, closely tied to the emotions I went through that day. I haven’t been able to listen to it unless I’m in a good mood.
The same goes for Come Sleep’s “For Sleep” (not the version on the album, strangely enough, but the one on the “I Am Ahab” demo – and yes, mistlur, I know it’s called “Skull of Ahab” but I consider myself hardcore enough to go with the first name) and System of a Down’s “Lonely Day”.
We were supposed to go see Come Sleep, Henrik and I, a few days after he passed away. I went anyway, and was again reduced to tears as the band dedicated that particular song to my grief and loss. And the SOAD song was played at the funeral. Again, tears.
All three songs are now tied to him, and those weeks around his passing and his funeral.
Today, on my way to my creative writing group, I went to visit Henrik at the graveyard. I sat on a bench, underneath the drooping branches of an old tree planted there, and listened to “Grim Heart/Black Rose”. At the other end of the bench a woman was sitting, smoking, staring at a vase of flowers on the memory stand. From the looks of her, I would say she was much more recently bereaved.
I felt at peace, and think that I may have, at least on some level, come to terms with the fact that he isn’t around anymore. I still think about him a lot, and probably always will, but the warm memories now far outweigh the horror of finding out he was gone. And so, I have through the passage of time, also come to terms with at least one of those songs. Time will tell if that goes for the other two as well.
But sometimes things happen that take it to a whole other level of seriousness even for me.
In November 2006, my friend Henrik passed away. I found out in a very strange way, that I won’t go into now, since it’s a long story, but I was at work and took it hard. I basically just packed up my stuff and rushed out of there. Like always, I pulled on my headphones and pressed Play.
Converge’s “Grim Heart/Black Rose” came on. It’s the only song off “No Heroes” where they use clean, melodious lyrics instead of Bannon’s tortured screams, and at almost ten minutes it’s five times longer than the average song on that album. It’s one of those songs that just builds and builds, layer upon layer of melodies and emotion, until it explodes in all-out Converge signature chaos. I walked to the subway in tears.
Since then that song has been associated with him, and his death, closely tied to the emotions I went through that day. I haven’t been able to listen to it unless I’m in a good mood.
The same goes for Come Sleep’s “For Sleep” (not the version on the album, strangely enough, but the one on the “I Am Ahab” demo – and yes, mistlur, I know it’s called “Skull of Ahab” but I consider myself hardcore enough to go with the first name) and System of a Down’s “Lonely Day”.
We were supposed to go see Come Sleep, Henrik and I, a few days after he passed away. I went anyway, and was again reduced to tears as the band dedicated that particular song to my grief and loss. And the SOAD song was played at the funeral. Again, tears.
All three songs are now tied to him, and those weeks around his passing and his funeral.
Today, on my way to my creative writing group, I went to visit Henrik at the graveyard. I sat on a bench, underneath the drooping branches of an old tree planted there, and listened to “Grim Heart/Black Rose”. At the other end of the bench a woman was sitting, smoking, staring at a vase of flowers on the memory stand. From the looks of her, I would say she was much more recently bereaved.
I felt at peace, and think that I may have, at least on some level, come to terms with the fact that he isn’t around anymore. I still think about him a lot, and probably always will, but the warm memories now far outweigh the horror of finding out he was gone. And so, I have through the passage of time, also come to terms with at least one of those songs. Time will tell if that goes for the other two as well.
Monday, September 1, 2008
1f u c4n r34d th1s u r34lly n33d t0 g37 l41d
It should come as a surprise to no one that I am a geek... Hello? Anyone? Surprised? No? Damn.
I spent (misspent?) large parts of my youth with my nose in comic books, rolling oddly shaped dice to determine whether my elf would be able to bash in the skull of an orc/troll/dragon/duck/whatever, and playing with Star Wars miniatures. My mother, the Swedish/English teacher, must have been dismayed to have one son with no interest in serious literature (me) and one with no interest in literature whatsoever (my brother). In the end, I think we turned out alright. Ish.
Nowadays I read the occasional graphic novel (comic books with more pages) and roll oddly shaped dice to...eehm...determine whether my elf will be able to bash in the skull of an orc/troll/dragon/duck/whatever. But with more story. And more pages. As for the miniatures, I don't play with them anymore (only when alone on a Friday night, really really drunk), but I still buy them. Not specifically Star Wars, but there are toys all over the place at home. Stewie. Ralph Wiggum. Pinhead. The Sarge.
And I spend a lot of time around other geeks. Music geeks, gaming geeks, tech geeks... I've come to the realization that you can be a geek about just about anything.
Back in the day a geek was a computer wiz with glasses with thick rims and questionable hygiene. I can safely say that I fall into none of those categories. I might be more tech savvy than the average Joe, but don't expect me to fix your PC.
By spending time with geeks, I get exposed to a lot of interesting and downright weird phenomena, special interests, sub-cultures, etc.
SETI is one of those phenomena. I have been aware of SETI through various books, movies, TV shows, articles, etc, for quite some time, but I had no idea I could contribute. Readers, meet SETI at home (Wiki, official site). Now go do your part, to help us all find our benevolent friends in the sky (I choose to ignore Alien, War of the Worlds, Predator, Independence Day, Footfall, Martians, the Inhibitors, etc. Real aliens are cuddly-wuddly).
Batman AND a ninja-ish assassin. That's almost too much...
And to continue the geek theme. I walked past a comic book store on Sunday and was unable to resist. The title above and a Lobo trade paperback now sit on my shelves. Mmmm...geeky.
I spent (misspent?) large parts of my youth with my nose in comic books, rolling oddly shaped dice to determine whether my elf would be able to bash in the skull of an orc/troll/dragon/duck/whatever, and playing with Star Wars miniatures. My mother, the Swedish/English teacher, must have been dismayed to have one son with no interest in serious literature (me) and one with no interest in literature whatsoever (my brother). In the end, I think we turned out alright. Ish.
Nowadays I read the occasional graphic novel (comic books with more pages) and roll oddly shaped dice to...eehm...determine whether my elf will be able to bash in the skull of an orc/troll/dragon/duck/whatever. But with more story. And more pages. As for the miniatures, I don't play with them anymore (only when alone on a Friday night, really really drunk), but I still buy them. Not specifically Star Wars, but there are toys all over the place at home. Stewie. Ralph Wiggum. Pinhead. The Sarge.
And I spend a lot of time around other geeks. Music geeks, gaming geeks, tech geeks... I've come to the realization that you can be a geek about just about anything.
Back in the day a geek was a computer wiz with glasses with thick rims and questionable hygiene. I can safely say that I fall into none of those categories. I might be more tech savvy than the average Joe, but don't expect me to fix your PC.
By spending time with geeks, I get exposed to a lot of interesting and downright weird phenomena, special interests, sub-cultures, etc.
SETI is one of those phenomena. I have been aware of SETI through various books, movies, TV shows, articles, etc, for quite some time, but I had no idea I could contribute. Readers, meet SETI at home (Wiki, official site). Now go do your part, to help us all find our benevolent friends in the sky (I choose to ignore Alien, War of the Worlds, Predator, Independence Day, Footfall, Martians, the Inhibitors, etc. Real aliens are cuddly-wuddly).
Batman AND a ninja-ish assassin. That's almost too much...And to continue the geek theme. I walked past a comic book store on Sunday and was unable to resist. The title above and a Lobo trade paperback now sit on my shelves. Mmmm...geeky.
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