| Shall we try again? |
[Jan. 18th, 2009|02:52 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  calm | ] |
Three years, no posts. Perhaps this time will be the charm?
I am debating using this page as a place to work on my ideas for the game world that I'm currently planning on running every other sat. If I do, it will be mostly friend-locked posts though.
As for me, since I posted last? I've moved down to Cincinnati from Dayton, gotten my Masters in Computer Science, am a Certified LabVIEW Developer, and a decent job. Relationship-wise, no dice, but eternal hope springs or something like that. |
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| Its been a little while. |
[Jan. 18th, 2005|09:24 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | calm | ] |
Has been a little while since I last posted. My xmas was pretty uneventful. I got some work done, saw some friends again and got hooked on Serious Sam, so now I once again have a game to take out my tensions and frustrations on. Very very helpful that.
Work progresses, much more I can not say.
My Sat game progresses, we've gained Brian back, and maybe another player, not sure.
Other than that, not much else is going on. |
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| All those kids wishing for a white Christmas up here... |
[Dec. 23rd, 2004|11:18 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  drained | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Revenge of the Sugar Plum Fairy | ] |
Got their wish, the bastards. 15 inches of snow and more to come, enough please. Slowly digging my way out inch by inch, it takes three passes with the snow shovel to reach the pavement and my back don't like that at all. Today will be spent digging, baking (Cheesecake and cookies for visit in Cleveland, YUM!), and cleaning. Only reason to go out is to buy some boots, cause I'm gonna need them I think. Gonna also work on the web page and try to get that done and up, as well as install the mapping software and support material to start tracking my games again. So, busy day I think. |
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| Slowly gaining speed. |
[Dec. 12th, 2004|09:14 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | accomplished | ] |
Been rather quiet lately, life is proceeding as normal. Working out in gym fairly regularly now, seem to be losing weight, which is a good thing I think. I was accepted into the graduate school as a CS major, now I need to come up with a program of study that is coherent for my area of interest and my area of experience (Alas, they are not the same, my area of interest is in machine human interaction, my area of experience is in test systems.) There is some overlap though, so I should be able to fudge the classes a bit and still make things coherent.
Spent Turkey-day in Baltimore visiting my Aunt and Uncle. Good people, the have a nice house in Highland, very rural. We drove about 5 miles to get the turkey..from the farm it was raised at. But thankfully, they plucked and prepped it so we didn't have to, was very tasty with cornbread stuffing, gravy, the ubiquitous mashed potatoes, sweet potato sticks, broccoli salad and a corn salad. We brought the pies, an apple, two pumpkin, and a lingenberry/mince pie. Was very very filling.
This week I've been baking for parties, two pumpkin pies for my building at works party, and made the dough for the thimble cookies for this weeks gaming group. gonna make mint, strawberry, and raspberry thimbles. |
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| Trying to decide |
[Oct. 7th, 2004|09:06 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  contemplative | ] |
I've been playing around with the idea of building a gaming website, mostly as a means of letting friends gather on a forum, but also as a means of creating a place where people could exchange ideas and worlds. A place where people could have lists of house rules, gaming worlds, and similar as well as the actual forum.
My current idea has the main page with the following link concepts: Forums, Worlds, Rules, Companies
The forums are fairly self-evident, and would have several sections, one section would be for RL game scheduling, another for PBeM type games, a section for gaming discussions, and a final on general stuff. (I still need to consider the AUP for it, I know.)
The Worlds would be a place where people could put their world ideas and maps. That way, all players could just look online to see what maps are available to players for instance. Each world section would be for a specific world.
The Rules sections would be lists of House rule suggestions, as well as homebrewd games.
Companies would be links to Gaming company pages, as well as direct links (If possible) to errata and similar.
Am I forgetting anything or overlooking anything? |
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| GenCon |
[Aug. 25th, 2004|09:15 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | accomplished | ] |
Spent part of this past weekend at GenCon. I had originally planned on going for all 4 days, but plans fell through so I just went all day Friday and Sat (And I do mean all day Friday, I left Dayton for Indy at 5:00 AM). It was a fun experience, the second time I've been to a GenCon. I noticed that I tire out during the con more though. Didn't help that I was lugging all those gaming books around and the new shoes were giving me blisters.
Friday was the activity day, I played a game of Evil Stevies Pirate Game, didn't win, but I had fun. I then went to the game room and played the SpyCraft card game, also interesting, but not quite what I am into. I listened into a couple of panels, and then at 9:00PM attended the Who's line is it anyway GenCon. There were two sessions of this, and I stayed for both. The first session 9:00-11:00 was PG-13 and was more heavily attended and a bit rowdier. The 11:00 PM session was R basically, and was sparser, but still very funny. The segment teams were always made up of members of the audience who would vollenteer. I did a few times as well, and managed to get a number of laughs out of the 'Props' segment. I then drove 21 miles out of town to find a hotel room and slept about 3 hours I think.
On Sat I met up with Rosa, Andy and Grant (From my Sat gaming group.) and went to the Dealers room with Andy. I, um, spent waaay to much there. Much of Sat was spent wandering around and watching games be played, though I did join in on a live 'Kill Dr. Lucky' game, and attended the 'Spin a Tale with Ed Greenwood' panel. Much fun day. I drove home with Andy and Grant at about 1:00AM or so, getting home at 3:00AM.
My ratings for the Con....about an 8.5, it was fun, but a little to much to do and not enough time. |
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| Still waiting. |
[Aug. 4th, 2004|09:15 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  cranky | ] |
There are times when I regret leaving San Jose / California. This is either one of those times, or a time when I rejoice in the fact I'm free of the largest nanny state in the union. I am still waiting for the transcripts to be sent to me. The person I've been told I have to talk to about this has returned from her vacation.....she was back I think about a week before she took another, and in that week, she still didn't know how to answer the phone and at least once didn't know how to empty her voice mail since it was full. I'm torn between wishing I was there with a large blunt object, or just being angry that as is all to often common, a government employee can't do something with any kind of efficiency due to the 60 layers of bureaucracy between them and the real world.
*sigh*
Did attend a D*I*C*Eman (Defense Intelligence and Counter Espionage) briefing today, very enjoyable, the guy is...intense, knows his stuff and knows how to present it. And that is all I will say on that subject. |
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| An excersize in self restraint. |
[Jul. 21st, 2004|07:01 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | annoyed | ] |
I haven't posted in a while because of my desire not to talk about politics here. Of late, I've mostly been in a ranting mood, and that's not what I want to use this journal for. A few things have occured that are worth note recently though.
This past weekend we split about 2 cords of wood from an old oak tree up in Columbus. Took us 6+ hours, my legs didn't stop hurting until last night. There was a lot of wood, and about a quarter of it needed to be split by hand rather than the gas powered splitter we rented.
San Jose State is still hanging onto my transcripts, I can't reach the person to talk to about when they are going to be sent. This is majorly annoying. I first sent the transcript request back in May. I was told it would be about 6-8 weeks for processing. I called SJSU after six weeks, and they claimed the only transcript request they had from me was recieved in May of 2001.....Amazing since I didn't attend classes there until Fall of 2001. So I had to fax in another request, with a please expidite request on it, and was told to call in 3 weeks. The person I'm supposed to call has been on vacation, then her voice mailbox was full....ugh. Getting rather irked here. Interesting how a school that prides itself on how 'High tech' it is, can't even handle a simple transcript request, while DeAnza college, a more community type college, was able to get me a transcript in about 5 days, and the request could be made over the internet.
Work...proceeds, and that's about it. |
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| Good pain |
[Jun. 21st, 2004|08:33 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  sore | ] |
This weekend was spent working on the rental property in Columbus. On saterday, I pruned the crabapple tree and cut down all of its dead branches, then installed an edge on the garden in the front yard and sprayed the weeds in the back with poison. On Sunday we converted a six foot high pile of brush, branches, and weeds into a pile of mulch about a foot high. Fun noise was made, but I am now paying for the work in the form of aches in my back, arms, and legs; not to mention the sunburn. Still, a lot was finished and this weekend is free for the gaming. |
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| Working in a coal mine.... |
[Jun. 15th, 2004|08:02 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  optimistic | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | John Williams - The Imperial March (From "The Empire Strikes Back") | ] |
Not really. Actually got a fair amount done today. We did the initial spec on the new job at work, so I have something to work with as I start coding. Have been told informally that I got an A for the class, so that is good. Now to wait for a letter of acceptance from the school...if San Jose State Uni manages to send them the transcripts they wanted that is. At home, I'm about 20% done with going through about 5-8 years of accumulated material, getting rid of things I don't need/want anymore. And I'm working on my homepage again, will post a link as soon as that is done. A little more, and I'll have the gaming BBS up and running. I actually have the BBS running on the Linux box, but it is still behind the firewall, I need to write a homepage for the Gestault Gaming zone and bulletin board first. |
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| My back hurts. |
[Jun. 6th, 2004|09:23 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | tired | ] |
Helped trench the backyard today. Putting in drainage tile to help keep the backyard from turning into a swimming pool after it rains. The trenches are done, and most of the pipes are laid, but we still need to lay about another 20 feet of pipe and start back filling. Wheeeee.
Tomorrow is looking to be one of those days, I'm not going into work due to taking my final, I don't like to work on days I'm taking a final, mostly because I won't get anything done. If I'm at work, I dwell on the final, if I'm at home, I can at least study for it. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jun. 5th, 2004|11:29 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  sad | ] |
Ronald Reagan, 1911-2004.
I said I'd avoid politics if I can, especially since it is at such a fevered pitch right now, but I can't let this go without some comments. Reagan was I think one of the top three presidents of the 20th century, Truman and FDR being the other two. I'm not sure I can argue which of the three is the best, but that is besides the point, all three were great for different reasons. Reagan is also probably the closest to my political beliefs of all the presidents in recent memory, not exact, but very close. Smaller Government, lower taxes, fewer regulations, strong defense and strong foreign policy. He made a few deals with the devil, but far fewer than anyone else in the position would have. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jun. 2nd, 2004|09:20 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | cranky | ] |
Well, the last class for Introduction to Formal Languages was today. As usual, Mr. Clueless was both late (almost an hour late) and had to have things explained to him multiple times. I can understand occasionally needing to clarify something, but this guy needed to be told three times when the test is, and where. Argh. Anyways, the final is on Monday, should be able to pull off an A for the class. Next class I'm not sure about, need to consider what I can take before acceptance to the graduate program. |
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| Once more into the breach my friends, once more. |
[Jun. 1st, 2004|07:42 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  relaxed | ] |
Well, After almost a year, I'm gonna try this again. This time, I have a sticky on the monitor to remind me to post, so forgetting is no longer an excuse. A few more things I need to do, I want to upload some avatar images, perhaps customize a bit, but nothing too fast or too quick, let me get into posting first. This is going to be a place for me to talk about things, perhaps a little politics, no way to really avoid that when one is talking about life, but I plan on keeping that minimal. Talk about life and work as I can.
Currently, I'm looking at the last class of the Qtr tomorrow, the on Monday, the Final. The class has been rather fun, didn't think it would be, but I was wrong I am glad to say.. Introduction to Formal Languages. Looking at grammars, expressions (regular and set), and language trees, tomorrow we look at methods to work with set expressions rather than regular ones, and how to interpret them in an algorythmic manner if possible. I also need to check on the application for admission into the graduate degree program. Busy Busy. |
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| Tired. |
[Jul. 12th, 2003|08:05 pm] |
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Have you ever just felt, tired? Is how I feel right now, no real energy, no real drive. Just kind of being 'there', not much else in mood. I really need to get something to catch my attention or something. |
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| Sigh I'll get the hang of this one day, I'm sure. |
[Feb. 18th, 2003|10:18 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | blah | ] |
Ok, so its been several months now. Just never feel like writing to the journal until I have a few side projects done. And of course those projects are never done. I am referring to setting up a web and mail server and then setting up my personal web pages. Well, the first half of the first part is done, I've built the linux box out of old cardboard computer parts and such, but it is up, and this coming weekend I plan on setting up the apache web server for it. After that, the web page......
My other current hobbies are all based on one thing, Role Playing. I'm running around on There (www.there.com) and making textures to submit for release there. And I'm working on my current RPG campaign, my first 3rd Ed GM job. So far, am very ambivalent about the game, I think it has some good ideas, but they really messed with the games power curve balance. As part of the game I'm messing with Campaign Cartographer to make my dungeons/cities/buildings, and looking for a good RPG support program. E-Tools does not cut it in the least.
I'm looking at DM's Familiar and Campaign Suite, and will choose one or the other later this week.
Other than that, school goes swimmingly, and work is well, work. |
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| Long time, no post. |
[Nov. 9th, 2002|11:39 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | cheerful | ] |
Ok, so its been almost a month since I last posted, I'm a bad little...er not so little boy.
Any ways, to return to Lewiston. Maine in the fall is gorgeous, I've always been partial to mountains and deserts, and visiting my family lands is always a welcome break from the tedium that is Dayton, or even San Jose when I lived there. My family owned over a hundred acres of mountain side back when my dad was growing up, its shrunk since then, land sold for building houses on. Can't really use it for farming, A) its not exactly flat, and B) like most of Maine, two feet down and its a solid block of basalt. They used to farm the land, but that was basically something to help the family save money on veggies and milk and such, not for profit. These days, there is still a small garden, but no farm. Well, almost no farm, my uncle Leon has a collection of Maples, and yup, makes his own maple syrup, and it is just about heaven to taste it. He also farms tree's, but in a responsible manner. I'll have to get some pictures up when I get the server running. Dennis's wifes family had remarked that they always thought the pictures of Maine in the fall were color enhanced....nope, Maine and much of New England, *really* is that vibrant of color in Autumn. You can just get lost in it.
One small point of personal tradition about Maine...every timeI visit, we go down into the depths of the land, to one of the two lakes on the land, and every time, I somehow manage to fall flat on my face in the mud....next time I visit, I'm bringing a wetsuit. :/ |
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 16th, 2002|06:22 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | contemplative | ] |
Back from Lewiston Maine, was an enjoyable trip for the most part, though I must say this....Any one who doesn't listen on an airplane and doesn't turn off their cell phone, or turns it on before being allowed to do so, should have said phone placed in that orifice of their body where the sun does not shine. Cell phones mess with the avionics of the plane, and the rules are there for a reason, and *yes* they apply to *you* not just everyone else. Twice I got to see idiots with cell phones ignore the rules on the plane. The first was at takeoff, when the persons phone rang, off does not mean don't talk into it, it means it is turned *off*. The second time, we had just landed, and even before we started to taxi, the two guys across the aisle from me pull out their phones and start gabbing...grrrrrr.
Anyways, Maine is beautiful this time of year as always. The wedding itself went off without a hitch, Dennis is now married to Sine (Pronounced like a softer Xena.) She is Danish, so her families presence was about eight people. Very friendly people though, this was their first time in the US, and I think they were a bit taken aback by how open and friendly people were. But then, we aren't from big city USA, where rudeness seems to breed largest (Which is not to say that we don't have our share of jerks, but we are nicer about it. :) ) The wedding as I said, pretty much went off perfectly, the priest managing to get more than a few well placed laughs as he delivered his sermon. ( One example, a reading was from the Song of Songs, one line of which refers to the man as a stag. In his discussion about love, and the reading, the priest looked at Dennis and as an aside said, "I of course will point out Dennis, your stag days are now officially over." ) Her godfather did remark to me later that in Denmark, the priests are far stuffier and more formal, and no one would have dared correct the mistake the priest made when he referred to her grandmother as her godmother. Me, I prefer the more relaxed attitude in sermons. One other nice part in the wedding, a friend of Dennis is an operatic singer, and does she have a set of pipes. ( Her voice was pretty good also *bad-dum* ) 'Ave Maria' sung by a professional live is whoa.
After the wedding, I hung around and helped the wedding photographer ( Another cousin, artistic family us.) as we photographed the bride, groom and family in various locations, finishing just in time for the reception. The reception was interesting, and fun. The brides family brought a traditional Danish drink to the reception, elderflower juice mixed with vodka, tasted like apple juice, and was rather strong for me, but I did like it. Here is where the meeting of the cultures really came out, the Danes it seems have a lot of wedding traditions, from cutting off the toes of the grooms socks, to singing a popular song modified for the occasion to suit the wedding. (In this case, 'My Bonnie lies over the ocean' modified to 'Our Sine lies over the ocean'.) The one tradition it appears they didn't have was our tradition of hassling the bride and groom during the dinner, such as tapping the cups to signal them to stand on their chairs and kiss, and not letting them get much time to eat from all the attention. No one minded the tradition of kissing the bride / groom when the other went to the restroom for some reason, though. :) The rest of the reception included Dennis singing some songs quite beautifully ( His frenchman imitation during one song was a sight to see. ), dancing, eating ( Cretons...yum!! ), and just gabbing until it was time to leave. Which is when several of us retired to play pool for a couple of hours before bed.
I'll talk about the rest of my trip tomorrow. |
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| Cleaning and packing. |
[Oct. 10th, 2002|09:52 pm] |
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Well, am packing for a trip to Boston tomorrow. Flight leaves at 2:00PM, not particularly fond of flying, but will be nice to see the relatives and see my sisters place in Wooster. I am going up there for a wedding, my cousin Dennis is getting married to a very nice lady from Denmark. My mother alas, can not make it, she is currently stuck in Hawaii with a sick plane that needs an engine replaced before they can fly the final test of the current project. It's been one week since I last updated, not good, I really should do it more. Am currently working on a short story, I'll post a link to it when I am done, but for now, its still being written. That's all I can think of at the moment, later. |
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 4th, 2002|10:43 pm] |
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Well, met with Jim and the kids at Youngs dairy. Was pretty enjoyable. Was fun to watch a four year old Alex try to figure out putt putt golf. Not much to talk about tonight, tomorrow if all goes well, I'll be running a game and then rebuilding my Linux machine and setting it up as a web server. I promised my sister a stable email address on the box, so I need to get a web mailer as well. Other than that, not much up today. |
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