LadyElvan

This weekend in particular things seemed to be chilly around the house...
I built a nice fire in the stove, but it just didn't seem to warm things up like it used to... Granted, the stove used to get hot enough to melt iron grates, and it's not any more since my brother adjusted things...
I got some sweep strips, you know, the things that go at the bottom of your door to stop breezes from coming in, and I put them around the entirety of the doors in the kitchen and the dining room...
I also got some expanding foam to plug up the holes under tha cabinets and around the molding to stop the wind from coming in... And when that couldn't fill the spaces, I got some foam insulation sheets and plugged up the holes, then used the expanding foam to fill in the gaps....
Saturday, the kitchen stayed at about 46 degrees all day...
To-night, it's up to 55....

This weekend I hope to re-do the insulation under the kitchen to help kick that up a couple of more degrees...
We'll see....

I was going to do a meme where you look back at the first sentence of the first post from each month, and post it.  But I got all sad looking back at my year, so I don't want to do that after all.  Instead, I want to think about phrases or words that got beaten into us for the past year, and I'm sick of hearing them.  In no particular order:

1) "There's an app for that" - It's called an APPLICATION.  If that's too many syllables for you, try PROGRAM or even SCRIPT.
2) Stimulous package - I know it needs to be done, but I'm sick of hearing it.  Especially because it makes me think dirty thoughts.
3) Security - okay this one has been going on for many many years, but I'm sick of hearing about it anyway. 
4) Green - what makes it green exactly? Try, maybe, healthier. Or less-polluting. Or more environmentally-conscious.  Just because it doesn't directly slaughter a baby seal doesn't automatically make it green either. Stock price seems to be influenced the most by this word.
5) Steampunk - yes, yes. I adore the steamy side of things, but for the LOVE of PETE, just because the jacket you found at Goodwill is brown and could possibly work in a pseudo-neo-Victorian outfit doesn't make it Steampunk. No, not even if you glue watch parts to it.  YOU make the WHOLE outfit Steampunk.  See how that works?  Also, I'm just tired of hearing the phrase, because it's so en vogue as to start being brought up everywhere anymore.

Do you have any words or phrases you'd like to see dropped in the dustbin?

http://www.drivethrudiet.com/

Now, I love Taco Bell as much as the next guy*, but TB as a diet food? With their very own female Jared, ala Subway?
Wasn't their last marketing push the whole, "It's technically a salad... technically..." because the taco salad has lettuce?
This just seems too crazy to be true....
Stop the world, I want to get off!


*OK, maybe more than the next guy... There was that time I proposed marriage to Taco Bell... Her silence was her rejection... My heart still hasn't healed...

So I was thinking about setting the stakes of a skill challenge (of which combat can be a skill) and how to make things a little more interesting.
Spirit of the Century has an interesting mechanic which allows the PC to narrate his failure should it come to that. When he finds himself in a losing situation, the PC has the option to fold. He can say, "I'm not going to win this," and give up. If he does so, HE narrates his failure. I.e., if you're fighting the big bad guy, and he's kickingthe crap out of you, you can give up and say, "Dr. Evil knocks me through a column, bringing the roof down on my head. Thinking I'm dead, he boards his submarine and leaves. I manage to dig my way out of the wreckage and begin my quest for revenge..."
This is a spectacular idea, though it requires giving up to be an option that PCs will use. SotC does this by saying if the bad guy takes you out, HE gets to decide your fate. If you give up, YOU decide your fate.

One of the other thoughts running paralelle to this is the idea of how Dogs in the Vineyard deals with resolution. In that game, you choose your success scenario and the GM chooses the success scenario for the NPCs, all before the dice are rolled. So, you say, "I want the bad guy to surrender and meet his justice", while the bad guy says, "Nobody messes with Jebadia! I want this guy dead." Then you roll the dice and narrate how you get to that end result. But once you name your end result, you have to stick to your guns. You have the option of escalating the conflict to the next level (talking to shoving to punching to guns), but your goal is set in stone.
This is interesting in that only one person can win, but the path to get there is what's in question.

Considering these two, I had an idea for take resolution that sort of blends the two, but offers the option for mixed success...

( Read more... )

"May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art -- write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself."
- Neil Gaiman

Taking a look back, because my life in 1999 is so drastically different than 2009...

1979
No freaking clue, I was 2

1989
I was 12
If I remember correctly, that was the year my family got robbed the day after Christmas. My Tv (that I really didn't like) was stollen along with a lot of other electronics. The mud they tracked into our house helped in the theives capture.
I was in 6th grade (?).
I lived with my Mom, Dad & Sister in Rockwall, Texas in the beautiful house we had had built on lots of acreage.
I remember one of these New Year's being the one where at Midnight, I left my room and happened to say Happy New Year to the other family members as I found them around the house. (i.e.: wasn't a huge deal in the family).
Boys weren't icky, but I certainly wasn't dating anyone. I think I had a crush on my homeroom teacher / the boy's gym coach. I gave him aftershave for Christmas (*how embarrassing!*)
Not much else to say about the teen years.

1999
I was 22
After a turbulant year job-wise (third shift data-entry and MSN-ISP tech support jobs), I started doing Playstation Technical Support in December 2009 (call center ramp up for the Christmas gift giving season)....mind you, this was the original Playstation...
I was living in an apartment in Carollton/Addison (can't quite remember!) that I shared with my friend David.
My social life revolved around the SCA.
On this day in 2009, I was sick with the flu, but at the recovery stage so I went to my friends' New Years Eve party.
I had no steady boyfriend.
My mom still lived in Cumby and worked in downtown Dallas.
My sister was still married and about to be pregnant with her first child (of three) while living in/near Fort Worth.
That pretty much sums things up.

2009
I'm 32
I'm unemployed, but with 9 solid years of Human Resources experience and at least two good job prospects on the horizon.
I'm living in Boyertown, PA, in a house I own (with the bank) with my spouse & child.
My social life revolves around friends I met primarily through arcadian72 and through the SCA though not many of them are still active.
Today, I'm as healthy as I get and my husband has invited an old friend over to celebrate the New Year.
I am married with a child.
My mom just moved to Bumblefuck Boyd, Texas and is working as a roving notary.
My sister is in a different relationship (but a much better one, in my opinion) and has three boys while living in/near Fort Worth.

Life has drastically changed for me in the last 10 years, mostly in the year 2000 where two trips to PA led me to quit my job and move to PA in November to take a chance on a guy I'd thrown to the wind 3 years earlier (my now spouse). My first temp job 9 years ago led to the HR career that I'm enjoying.

So, now that I've looked back, it's time to look forward! I welcome 2010 with open arms and hope it's today's are better than 2009's yesterdays....wait, does that make sense? oh well!

Yes, yes I will.

It took a while, but I finally went through the data from my sleep journal....
I was a little surprised that according to my ratings, I'm usually rating my sleepiness (morning and daytime) at around a 5 most days.... My recollection was that sleeping on my right made me much sleepier than my left, which is true in some instances, but not all...
Going through my journal, I trended the first 5 days of each change in my sleeping routine... In some cases, I spent more than 5 days in a change, so not all data is represented here...
I've included both the raw data and the charts... The scale I used was a subjective 0-10, with 0 being not sleepy at all and 10 being incapacitated and unable to get out of bed...

( Read more... )

You can see that on my left, with or without the CPAP, my morning sleepiness is neck and neck.... But on my left without the CPAP, my daytime sleepiness really wins out... That said, I'm sure the slightly less sleep I got on my left with the CPAP impacted that...

I guess this kind of proves what the sleep studies showed - that when I'm on my left, all of my respiratory issues go away....

How old do we have to get before we get over worrying about what other people think of us? I am trying so HARD to be mature and accepting and not assume it's all about me a realize that someone will decide to be, or not be your friend, all on their own. It's not up to me. It's up to you. I have a pathalogical need to make everyone happy - but I need to move beyond that. I can't make everyone happy. And in the end? I am me. I don't change for anyone. I have opinons and I don't hide them. I am willing to listen to your opininions, I will even give them weight and value, even if I don't agree with them. But don't expect me to NOT voice mine. And if my opinions, or my need to share them, really does make it so you don't want to be around me/talk to me/ associate with me - then please please please cut me free. Don't pretend to be my friend. Don't force yourself to be pleasant to me - be honest - say - sorry, this just isn't working out - DUMP me for goodness sake. Because I am seriously giving myself ulcers worrying about how people feel about me. Why? I have no idea. None. Oy.

Will I ever grow up?

From the realm of WTFery, Walmart had cameras in a bathroom/dressing room used by the PUBLIC.

"They installed the device in a bathroom–dressing room in the Tire and Lube center of a Walmart Supercenter in Easton, Pennsylvania. Workers discovered the camera in March 2008. It’s not known how long the camera was recording activity in the bathroom before it was found."

As if we needed another reason to hate them.
And now I'm finding out other places put them in the bathroom as well? Hell, I'm never using a public toilet again.

I watched Southland Tales last night... And I have to say I didn't really like it....
This was a movie that a friend of mine recommended a couple of years ago, knowing that I loved Donnie Darko (Richard Kelly wrote both)... So I went into it hopeful...

The story is basically one about a man who travels 69 minutes back in time and writes a movies script that actually fortells the end of the world (as a result of time collapsing), which occurs 3 days after his trip... He just doesn't realize the script is prophetic, though apparently everyone else does...

I think this movie had potential (though not by looking at that little synopsis), but failed to reach that potential in a spectacular way.... I think the story line would have been better served by breaking it into two different, unrelated movies - one following the time travel arc and one following the political upheaval arc...
The dialog was horrendous, as was most of its delivery... In early scenes with the Rock, his halting speech was like a bad Shatner impersonation.... Only the lines were stupid, inflated, and overly complicated ("The soul of a monkey isn't strong enough to survive the dimensional shift!")...
The Rock's performance swings wildly from scared/confused to confident with very little reason (well, the reasons for becoming scared are evident enough, just not his sudden bursts of confidence)... And let's just say that the Rock is not known for looking wild-eyed, nervous, and scared....
I think my biggest problem with the plot was that people who shouldn't have known what was going on seemed to have sudden clarity into the fate of the world... While I can understand the Rock knowing (he wrote the script), and Sarah Michelle Gellar (she co-wrote/read the script), there were others that seemed to have knowledge for no reason...
I was also confused as to the nature of the other supposed time travellers, since they offered advide and direction, but half seemed to be oblivious to the end result while others were actively steering for destruction...
Oh, and just fastforward through the musical scenes, they're not worth it...

I won't say that the movie had an all star cast, but it had several easily recognizable people in it... And a suprising number of SNL alumni, ranging from John Lovitz to Cheri Oteri... Whether this was a boon or a detriment, I'm not sure...
There was also a lot of narration to the movie, which helped paint the background, but it began to get tiresome... There's only so much exposition I can handle....
The camera work was ok so long as it was on the cast.... But there were many times (too many to count) where there were 6 or more different TV screens or other montages playing at once, giving it a very distracting feel and making me sure I missed something that may have been important (I just didn't care enough to go back)...

I have to say that this is a movie to skip... I'm glad I didn't pay to watch it...

Propeller One-Way Night Coach: A Story by John Travolta

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Yes, the John Travolta. That's why I picked it up ... at a used bookstore in Minnesota.

He apparently wrote this for his family, as a sort of gift. They loved it so much, he decided to "share it with the world."

As a gift, I suppose it's quite cute.

As a published work, it falls very short.

I think in his sharing, he should have allowed an editor to have at it. He's obviously not a writer. Or anything remotely resembling one.

Super-short little story about a boy who loves flying. His mother is a wanna-be actress who loves sleeping with married men. Wee.

It's billed as a fairy tale for all ages. I would disagree.

Didn't hate it. Didn't love it. Worth the $1, I suppose ;)

View all my reviews.

here is a delightful little diity sung by Leonard Nimoy about Bilbo Baggins! No - really!
http://www.funnyjunk.com/youtube/17227/Leonard+Nimoy+Sings/

So, I'm trying to figure out why my gmail just *won't* follow the instructions I've set for the server settings (Leave on server for 7 days/until I delete them).  I mean, I know under POP settings, on the gmail site, I have the option to say "delete after downloading" but that isn't what I want.  I want what I have in Thunderbird: leave on server for 7 days or until I delete them. Apparently this is meaningless to gmail.

So I thought maybe I'd done something wrong initially and had it POP enable the whole inbox over again.  And what this accomplished was to set free a deluge over about 1500 old emails that were archived on the server.  It's still downloading. Every time I think it's done, it's not, just taking a breather or something.  So now I'm re-deleting email I'd already deleted before, but it's so bogged down, it's not letting me delete anything. 

And in the end, those 1500 emails are STILL saved on the server.  I mean, it's only using like 4% of my gmail space, but it's the principle of the thing.  I want to have more control than this.

So anyway, yeah, don't try it my way.  You'll be there all night with it.

I finished last night with over 3,300 words... I think that's a respectable start...
Most of the encounters are finished, I just need to supply the connecting tissue between encounters and give some NPC info... Oh, and some boxed text to kick off the adventure....

1. What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?

I got a dog.

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't make new year's resolutions, so yes.

3. How will you be spending New Year's Eve?
At home. Eating shrimp. mmmmmmm.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Yes, my Father.

5. What countries did you visit?
None. I visited otehr states tho! ;)

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
A new house please. pleasepleaseplease.....

7. What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
August 9th - it was the day my dad's girlfriend died setting in motion 2 months of hell for me.

8. What was your biggest achievement(s) of the year?
I learned to say no. :)

9. What was your biggest failure?
I didn't keep up with my gardens.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I had an awful cold. And hormonal issues. But what else is new? ;)

11. What was the best thing you bought?
flannel sheets!

12. Where did most of your money go?
Taxes. Isn't that where most of everyone's money goes?

13. What song will always remind you of 2009?
The Climb

14. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Dinner parties

15. What do you wish you'd done less of?
stressing over things I can not change and worrying about why people are upset with me. IN the end? It doesn't matter. they will be your friend or not and the choice is theirs, not yours.

16. What was your favorite TV program?
Glee

17. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I try not to hate people.

18. What was the best book you read?
I read all of the Sookie Stackhouse novels this year. They were great.

19. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Muse

20. What was your favorite film of this year?
Monsters vs. Aliens was fantastic!!

21. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
We went to Red Robins. But we didn't have them sing. And I turned 37.

22. What kept you sane?
The St. Luke's visiting nurses Association

23. Who did you miss?
Lots of people.

24. Who was the best new person you met?
Jason's girlfriend Linda A - I love her!

25. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.
I wrote it up there - but I will write it again - If someone wants to be your friend - or doesn't - there really isn't anything YOU can do to change their minds. Don't try to change to please them - be you and let it flow as it will.

What does 2010 hold for me?
A new house? And a cruise!! Woot!

:edited to make ass. association - it just didn't work the otehr way, you know? ;)

I fleshed out about half of the encounters for the adventure to-day... My ~1,700 words, plus my previous ~800 words puts me a little more than half way to my obligation of 4,500 words...
Who would have thought that 4,500 words could be so hard?

I hope to send a partial draft and a progress report to-morrow night...

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!! 

I hope my North Texas friends & family enjoy their white Christmas in safety!
We still have snow on the ground, so I suppose this is technically a white Christmas in PA, though it should rain on Saturday & melt most of it.
Off to bed now, I'm sure someone will be up at 5:30 again (but even more happy about it than usual)!