Break Update

Hokay, I should write something here before people assume I died in the snowstorm in Point. Alas I missed it completely by less then an hour. So not a white Christmas for us in La Crosse. Ah well, hopefully the snow will still be there in Point!

Anyhow Christmas wasn't too bad. Funniest gift: a measuring glass that also works as a shot glass. Talk about great for someone like me who isn't a good cook. After I botch the cooking I'll have a shot glass handy!

Other fun things: I got a big Foreman grill. Pretty exciting but I need more counter space to be able to use it. Maybe when I get a house?

Major haul comes from books. Dad and I went to Uncle Hugo's today. Yay for books (I'm a book nerd as alllllways). Got both of the Eric Frank Russell anthologies (Major Ingredients & Entities). Tolkien's: Silmarillion and the Tolkien Reader. Harvard Lampoon's Bored of the Rings-my Dad loves this book and it is pretty funny. The "boggies" (aka hobbits) immigirating to the Sty (er Shire er wait) under the guise of a band of iterent grave-robbers won me over. Gaiman & Pratchett's Good Omens finally returns to paperback so I got that as well. I also picked up a book copy of Chaositech for my Ptolus campaign and decided to check out Secrets of Zir'an which flopped cause it had some semi-illegible pages.

In addition I picked up a couple of Alternity books for Carl and the Werewolf core book for Dani (hopefully the right edition). That's all for now. Hope everyone had a great Christmas and has a good new year (I almost wrote "had a condition once", wonder what that meant.)

Home

Yay for home! Merry Christmas everyone!

And then there weren't many

The University is rather sad and lonely with everyone leaving...

Last Call

(Alternate title Beeks and the Deathly Hallows)

So I'm working my last work shift which is my last act as a student at University Wisconsin - Stevens Point. There's nothin' left after this. It's bit a strange. Doesn't help that the last couple days have been kinda gray and grim and internally I've been the same. Just some things left hanging that I've felt maybe I kinda screwed with my irrepressible timing ability.

Tomorrow barring bad weather ala Denver heading for home and Christmas. Still got wrap my presents (oops!). Home may be relatively busy visiting family and just running errands that need to be done there. Then back here for London reunion and work.

I'm done. It's strange. And good. And sad too. No more late nights :/

I forgot

So after I graduate I still gotta take finals. Hahahahaha...awe, I just made myself sad.

Ok it's not actually all that bad, I'm done tonight so it's not like things drag out the whole week. Then I've got a couple days to hang out with folks before everyone goes home. January is kinda a lonely quiet month (even more so since I am sans roommate) although work will probably fill things up more then I realize.

Speaking of, I'm not sure I can quite get my mind around that in a couple weeks I'll be working full time. Academically I understand what's goin' on but still kinda boggles the mind since in a lot of ways it's a totally new expierence (with the internship you knew that eventually you'd get a break, etc, etc).

Good luck on finals to everyone who still has them!

News

I graduated, now what?

Picking the below

Opening Credits: Cells (instrumental) - The Servant
Waking Up: Living Water - Ryan Farish
First Day At School: Cats in the Cradle - Bon Jovi
Falling In Love: Wounded Feet - Telecast
Breaking Up: Life is like a Boat - Rei Fu
1st date: Save Tonight - Eagle Eye Cherry
Prom: What Planet Is This? - The Seatbelts
Life's OK: Da Da Da - Trio *
Driving: The Courier - Randy Edelman (The Last of the Mohicans OST)
Flashback: Wind - Akeboshi
Getting Back Together: Golden Brown - The Stranglers
Wedding: Conquering Fools - OAR *
Birth of Child: Can't Take it In - Imogen Heap
Final Battle: The White Tree - Howard Shore (Return of the King OST)
Death Scene: Someone Said Goodbye - Enya
Funeral Song: Hurt - Johnny Cash
End Credits: Targetron - Nathan Lamont

Well there's my picks, not totally sure about all of them but think it'd be an interesting track. Got Twism to do it too!

Random Meme

So, here's how it works:
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle.
3. Press play.
4. For every question, type the song that's playing.
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button.
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool.

Here's Mine/Also done with top 500 songs

Opening Credits: Murron's Burial - Braveheart / Amnesia - Chumbawumba
Waking Up: Conquering Fools - OAR / Drops of Jupitor - Train
First Day At School: The Stone Table - Chronicles of Narnia OST / Cats in the Cradle - Bon Jovi
Falling In Love: Final Duel/Into the Death Star - Star Wars: Return of the Jedi OST / Strangers - Wolf's Rain OST
Breaking Up: O Tannebuam - Vince Garibaldi Trio / Like WOW! - Leslie Carter (Shrek OST)
1st date: Collide- SF Game Center - Seatbelts / Pretty Fly (For a White Guy) - Offspring
Prom: Christmas is Coming - Vince Garibaldi Trio / Clocks - Coldplay
Life's OK: Judas' Death - Jesus Christ Superstar / Wassail, Wassail -Mannheim Steamroller
Driving: A Fistful of Dollars - Futurama episode commentary / Rhythym Emotion - Gundam Wing OST
Flashback: Home with Me - Chumbawumba / Big Yellow Taxi - Counting Crows
Getting Back Together: Into the Blue - Moby / The Holly and the Ivy - Mannheim Steamroller
Wedding: Pain - StereoMud / Stumblin' - Powderfinger
Birth of Child: Hell or High Water - Tinsely Ellis / Circle of Life - The Lion King OST
Final Battle: Invoke 4 - Gundam SEED OST / The Throne Room/End Titles - Star Wars: A New Hope OST
Death Scene: Didn't Leave Nobody but the Baby - O Brother Where Art Thou OST / Princes of the Universe - Queen
Funeral Song: Postcards from Italy - Beirut / No Other Way - Jack Johnson
End Credits: Alien: End Title - Jerry Goldsmith / Pinch Me - Barenaked Ladies

Conclusion: iTunes is not a good judge / Somewhat better judge when limited to songs I listen too (I have a day's worth of music I have never played even once)

Next up: what'd I'd play if I could pick (prolly sadder then letting iTunes randomly pick but I need something to do I am kinda nervous/bored)

"We have done the impossible and that makes us mighty." -Sqt. Mal Reynolds

That makes me smile.

Books rehash

Yay, they came! Now of course which one do I read? The various Exalted 2E books I'll prolly attack in little bits and pieces. Scroll of the Monk I may read mostly for the new martial art forms. Have to see what the differences are but I might convert them to 1E if I ever run that again. Probably tackle Driscoll's book once I finish purusing the Exalted books. Then onto The Impossible Country by Brian Hall. This actually is a precursor to the Yugoslav civil war so should be interesting. I had a hard time on Amazon finding any decently rated books on that war which somewhat surprised me. Maybe I am searching by the wrong keywords. *shrug*

Anywho, that is all.

Worldview

Interesting food for thought. Watching "X" and the opening credits show Earth from orbit. It's centered over Japan. It's easy to forget that our worldview naturally has the United States at the center or relatively close due to where we grew up. Still it's kinda odd thinking of South Africa being the center of the globe. Of course it's a globe so there is no real "center" persay.

Old Connections

Yay, reconnected with an old friend! Also beat Sketchfighter (and then proceeded to start playing in Hard mode). It looks like WDMD may turn out ok, I should pass at least. Still need to do put some time into it but might get this figured out. Yay. I graduate in a week and it's kinda strange. Suddenly I'll be done and then everything starts over again.

I don't actually much else to say at the moment. Yea, I'm deep I know...

The Obligatory 0214 Post

Well not much that actually obligates me to do this. Thought I would anyway.

So let's see, what have I been reading of late? Not much. I am in transition between books since I finished Battle for Moscow. I haven't really felt like picking up Wild at Heart although I intend to eventually. Not really feeling the deep, insightful read. So I am waiting for Amazon to deliver Mark Driscoll's Confessions of a Reformist Pastor which Al introduced me to and is hilarious. Seriously the guy is a ball of laughs and it was a pretty funny Chi Alpha where Al was quoting him although most of Al's messages usually have a laugh or two in them so good figure. Book seems fun and imfortative so that will probably get first dibs and be my Christmas break read. Next up because it'll come in the same package with be the book on the Yugoslav civil war. Can't remember the name. I got interested in the area after seeing about 1/3 or 1/2 of Harrison's Flowers (random side track, IMDB switched the website a bit and it's really weird!).

Hoping when I am at Uncle Hugo's that I can find the pair of Eric Frank Russell Anthologies that Dad has (entitled Major Ingredients and Entities Amazon tells/reminds me). They've been out a couple years so I suppose it is touch and go but I remember I really enjoying his works but never getting a chance to really read them because by the time they came out I was in college. Also the reason why I never finished the Pacific half (nor even started the Atlantic) of History of the United States Naval Operations in World War Two by Samuel Eliot Morison. Who did such a good job, by the way, chronicling the Navy in the Second World War that he got a ship named after him.

There you go. Tons of my reading thoughts. Honestly buying books (moreso RPGs) is my guilty pleasure. Next year I am gonna have to set a spending cap because this year I initially said I wouldn't buy anything past January (when Exalted finished up) and well I've spent a lot. Gotta save for the house :D

Final thoughts: Yeah Toast!

Interesting

Well surprise surprise, I can suddenly use Blogger Beta. They finally got around to porting the old gaurd in. Here's hoping to a smooth run.

I meant to post this yesterday since it was December 7th. Anyone remember?

As for me, yesterday was pretty good except for that I found myself rather overwhelmed by WDMD as he fully intends us to code the stuff in PHP and I have no clue. Thought others were in the same boat but doesn't look like it. I will have to sit down and work my butt off.

Got to chat with a couple friends that I normally don't get to talk much too (of course always hope that I can improve on that) and also plugged away at Sketchfighter, which will have to stop now til PHP is complete!

That's it for now.

That's Sketchy

Oh dear I've discovered a distraction! Probably not good for trying to focus on the confusing class that is WDMD. In the meantime I think i've made a misstep but I'm not sure.

Winter

Well winter may not officially be here yet but it certainly feels it all cold, blustery, and snowy. It looks like we're gonna get an inch or two of flurries that will take about 5 days to arrive. Guess I can't complain, everything is white. I'll try and toss up some photos for the 1 of you who doesn't live in the state of Wisconsin and is therefore seeing this first hand.

This week feels really busy but I think in perspective it's not really that bad at all. As long as I keep cracking at it I can stay on top of things and really with this history paper I am and these couple quizzes after this week the only class with assignments still will be WDMD.

Ptolus 1

For those who are interested results from first session of Ptolus are here.

And here the Word of the Lord...

Today was pretty busy. Ran Ptolus and it went pretty well. Geez, it can take a long time to get people up a level at the normal rate! I've got lots to learn about DMing. Then went and saw Scott's documentary. It was pretty good, can't see why it got banned! It was a little shorter then I thought but that was ok. I got a chance to go out and see the candlelight hike in Schmeekle. Have to admit I didn't expect much but dang that was pretty cool to do the trail by candlelight. Really creepy actually too, just a trail of torches in the dark. Cool!

Almost Over

Wow, I graduate in 16 days. I start work in little over a month. What happened to the time? In a sense life won't change a whole lot. I'll still be in Stevens Point and my friends will still all be here for the most part (except for those lucky people named Seth and Kat who are going overseas!) so the only radical shift is that I'll be working the 8-5 5 days a week. Maybe a tough shift initially doing the early morning thing but after that I'll prolly just adjust to a more normal life schedule. Isn't that a scary thought?

Anyhow I should get back to working on Ptolus stuff so that goes well Saturday. Things are getting busy leading up to finals so it's good I am just doing a starting shot and then waiting til after finals!