(originally written 020513. Supplemented on 021013)
*Why
is it nobody saw fit to tell me about something like the Aquabats
earlier? Instead, I gotta find about them by trolling thru Netflix at
three in the morning. Not cool.
*So far, I have managed
to replace one of three lighting fixtures without electrocuting myself.
Hopefully I will keep that streak intact tomorrow.
*I
hate Ebay. Or maybe I love it. I'm not sure. I do know that when a
complete copy of Fireball Island or Dark Tower comes up for sale and
starts out at $120+, I hate it. But, when I find a copy of Sea Command
starting at $3, I love it. The fool who has the auto snipe set on the
copy of Monsters Menace America I could just punch right in the neck.
*Gonna open up the Blue Moai Room on Thursday evening. Hopefully shenanigans of some sort will ensue.
*Mom had her cataract surgery today.
*I
still have yet to give Bart the specs on the dice tower I want him to
build for me. Of course, I would also like for him to make me a game
table. Guess I need to start saving my pennies.
*****
*Got
the closet light replaced with only a reasonable amount of swearing.
The light on the kitchen fan I opted not to replace, which was the best
solution for that. The light over the dining room table....just sucks.
They put a switch box in the ceiling, which is half the size of a
standard fixture box. That means that I can't tighten the fixture up to
the ceiling with the hanging bolts. It also means that the crossbar
doesn't fit right. I had to step away from that one before I tossed the
whole mess out the door into the back yard. We'll see what happens with
it later this week. And for alll the doubters out there: not a single
electric shock was had by this amateur electrician.
*"Mercury"--This
is the biography of Freddie Mercury. Given the subject matter, I had
thought this would be a fascinating, or at the very least, an
interesting, read. Unfortunately, the author's rather odd writing style
managed to overcome my enthusiasm for the subject matter. I gave up on
this one after barely making it through a third of the book.
*The
folks leave for their cruise to Hawaii on the 15th. Still have no
reasonable plans on how I can stow away on their ship. (Or is it
considered a boat? I can never remember...)
*Still not
sure why it is that I am unable to convince the other person living in
my house that a 40 blood sugar is a bad thing. But, the blackout she had
Saturday morning might help to drive that point home.
*Asylum
from Left Coast Brewing is giving Matilda from Goose Island Brewing a
challenge for the top spot on my "Favorite Belgian Style Beer" list.
Also looking forward to trying the Wee Heavy from Alesmith in the near
future.
*Bad weather and illness kept folks away from the
last open evening at the Blue Moai room. And it looks like it'll be a
couple of weeks before I can do it again. No problem, since that gives
me more time to acquire some new games.
*My copy of
Carrier Strike is almost ready to play! For the moment I gave up on the
idea of painting the wings of the planes and the decks of the carriers. I
just decided to use the stickers that were in the box. Maybe later, if
those start to fall off, I could go after giving them all a custom paint
job. Also managed to get all the superstructures glued onto the
carriers. Right now, I've got books stacked on the game board trying to
get it flattened out. After that, should be ready to go. Unless....I
decide to dry brush all the numbers on the pilot skill chips so they're
easier to see.
*Hopefully all that is currently wrong
with Sheri's car will be the battery. All the other possibilities are
quite a bit more expensive to deal with.
*Thinking about
taking out the big wall mounted workbench in the indoor studio. That
would give me easier access to the windows. If it were easier to get
more natural light in there, it make it more conducive to me spending
more time there. Plus, that workbench is mainly a crap catcher. Maybe I
could just take a folding table out of the other room to put there
instead. Might be able to put up some more shelving. I could also move
my drafting table to in front of the windows. Probably have to move the
track lighting as well. If nothing else, getting rid of it would make
the layout of the room a little more flexible. And hopefully more
condusive to art work. Regardless, the comfy couch stays.
*Mom's
eye surgery went well. Said she could see improvement the same day.
Have to give her a call tomorrow and see how she's doing.
*Got
our first decent snowfall of the season a few days ago. Nothing like
what hit the east coast, though. But today I woke up to pouring rain, so
it's going away almost as fast as it arrived. But so far, there's
enough still down to keep the dogs from coming in with muddy feet.
*"V/H/S"--Most
of the scary movies on Netflix are direct-to-video pieces of crud. This
one, oddly enough, wasn't. It was pretty creepy. They kinda went
bananas with the hand held camera cinematography, but I liked it. I
liked the way the sub-stories were all separate vignettes just embedded
in the main plot. A couple of them would have made decent stand-alone
stories. Anyway, if I were you, I'd definitely watch this one in the
dark.
*Why is it that I have such a hard time getting rid
of old magazines? I must have 5-6 years worth of Games magazine alone
sitting on my bookshelf, just taking up space. So I decided to get rid
of them. Or at least most of them. OK, I decided to keep part of all of
them. So I'm going through all the issues and taking out all the
traditional game reviews as well as the rules for new games. The part
that's left over gets pitched. Or recycled, in this case. That will just
leave me with Skeptic to deal with. And Tricycle. And Smithsonian. Then
there's Scientific American. Probably Mental Floss too.
*****
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Almost Fuzzy
*Ow. Sliced my left thumb pretty good while cutting onions for what I
was cooking for lunch on Monday. It was one of those cuts that, when I
saw it, even I thought it might need a stitch or two. And I'm usually
fine with the good ol' paper towel held on with a rubber band kind of
bandage. The mistake I made (other than cutting myself in the first
place) was opting to go to the ER instead of an urgent care. The 2.5+
hour wait to be seen made sure that I had plenty of time to stop the
bleeding. Which didn't really matter, since they had to break it back
open to scrub it out (not a pleasant feeling, mind you) before they
closed it back up again. I was also dreading getting the xylocaine shots
that usually preceed getting stitches. Turns out that I had nothing to
worry about, as the ER doc decided to glue the wound shut. Part of me
was happy for that, and part of me was doubtful about how effective it
would be. The latter part was mostly right, turns out. I have managed to
hit it on things several times since then, and have been rewarded with
fresh bleeding each time. There also seems to be a decent sized wedge of
dead skin on either side of the cut that will have to get trimmed off
at some point in time. Joy.
*It was a rainy, foggy Tuesday night. Luckily, Carol, Leslie, and Bart all came by for drinks, conversation, and games.Turned out to be a really nice evening. Got to play Apples to Apples, Zombie Dice, Chupacabra, and Martian Dice. Have to make sure do that again real soon.
*Thunderstorms? In January? In Illinois? Very unusual...
*Been watching the first season of Dexter while taking my daily walk. Sheri decided that it wasn't something she was interested in after watching the pilot episode. So, now I have it all to myself.
*As of Tuesday, January 29, I finally learned both of the teams that are in the Super Bowl this year. Pretty sure that has to be a personal record for me.
*Tried the new hibachi restaurant in DeKalb the other day. Very nice decor. Food was pretty good. The hibachi presentation was decent, but not quite polished yet. Beer selection was scant. Prices were pretty steep. Hopefully the Fushi Yami side of things will help keep the hibachi side afloat while they get established.
*"Seeking a Friend for the End of the World" I like Steve Carrell. And what's not to like about an apocalypse movie? Put the two together, and you get a decent result. The flavor of this film is just so different than movies like, say, "Armageddon", that I have a hard time comparing them. So I won't. I'll just say that I did like the movie, and it gave me a new perspective on the classic 'end of the world' type movies.
*The fez gods are still viewing me with indifference.
*****
*It was a rainy, foggy Tuesday night. Luckily, Carol, Leslie, and Bart all came by for drinks, conversation, and games.Turned out to be a really nice evening. Got to play Apples to Apples, Zombie Dice, Chupacabra, and Martian Dice. Have to make sure do that again real soon.
*Thunderstorms? In January? In Illinois? Very unusual...
*Been watching the first season of Dexter while taking my daily walk. Sheri decided that it wasn't something she was interested in after watching the pilot episode. So, now I have it all to myself.
*As of Tuesday, January 29, I finally learned both of the teams that are in the Super Bowl this year. Pretty sure that has to be a personal record for me.
*Tried the new hibachi restaurant in DeKalb the other day. Very nice decor. Food was pretty good. The hibachi presentation was decent, but not quite polished yet. Beer selection was scant. Prices were pretty steep. Hopefully the Fushi Yami side of things will help keep the hibachi side afloat while they get established.
*"Seeking a Friend for the End of the World" I like Steve Carrell. And what's not to like about an apocalypse movie? Put the two together, and you get a decent result. The flavor of this film is just so different than movies like, say, "Armageddon", that I have a hard time comparing them. So I won't. I'll just say that I did like the movie, and it gave me a new perspective on the classic 'end of the world' type movies.
*The fez gods are still viewing me with indifference.
*****
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Dusty Muffins
(originally written 01.23.13. Edited and supplemented 01.25.13.)
*At first, I had thought that I had just found a copy of Carrier Strike! that was complete, even though it was 36 years old. Mind you, the box has seen better days (it's got some water damage and a couple of split corners). It wasn't like the copy of Amoeba Wars that I also saw on this trip, that, while unpunched, was actually moldy inside the box. Anyway, after checking the piece count while still at the store, I was just happy to see that it was all there. But, upon further examination once I got it home, I discovered that it wasn't just complete, it hadn't even been completely assembled or punched yet. That makes it doubtful that it had ever been played. A 36 year old board game that had never been completely assembled, much less played. Freakin cool. Well worth the $20 I spent on it, in my opinion. When I checked it further, I found that not only had the planes not been assembled or stickered completely, neither had the carriers. It actually looked like the ships may have been put together and then disassembled, since the pins that held the superstructure to the deck were half broken off. Luckily, I have glue. As far as the planes go, I was actually thinking about trying to give them a bit of a paint job, rather than just those colored stickers on the wings.
But then I got to thinking. What had actually happened to cause this game to end up in my hands, unplayed, after all those years? Some unexpected tragedy, perhaps? Was it a gift that simply held no interest for the recipient? Did it somehow find its way into the back of a closet where it was forgotten over the years? How many hands has it passed through in all that time? Interesting to think about.
*I think I will give starting my own forum in the Black Lagoon a try. I've got a Flickr account for all the images to embed, so why shouldn't I? I mean aside from the fact that I already have more than enough stuff to do with what little free time I have. But then again, games are something that are very meagerly represented among the islands of the FOM.
*There doesn't seem like there's going to be much free time on my day off. Errands and chores are demanding most all of my time. I'm thinking that what could be at least a partial solution to that is to drag the office desk out into the middle of the yard and set it on fire. Nothing like a nice cheery fire on a cold winter day, right?
*****
*Do I want to go to Hawaii or Easter Island? Either way, it will most likely be a once in a lifetime trip. The Easter Island trip would be something we'd have to decide on in the next couple of weeks, and it wouldn't happen until 2014. I believe that it's a cruise, as well. Hawaii we were hoping for this year. No way we could do both. Might be a stretch just to do one of them.
*Seems fairly obvious now that finding, meeting, and getting to know my mom has really sent my brain reeling. Actually, that is probably a gross understatement. Actually, I don't think I should have used the word 'probably in the previous sentence. I have no idea how deeply this has affected me. And there is a boatload more backstory yet to be told. Not to mention the other half of my genetic makeup. Pretty much all the stuff that's been discussed so far has been pretty low key, and it's still managed to mess up my thoughts on levels I'm not completely aware of. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that this would all alter my sense of self. I don't even know if "alter" is the right word. What if this is a reconfiguration of some sort? Should this even affect me at that level? I know there's still an emotional component that hasn't been accessed yet. Don't know if I'm going to be willing to put down that protective layer of mine. Does that mean I'm somehow stunted? And if so, is it to a greater or lesser degree than the average person? Maybe all these years of not knowing built my sense of self with that kernel of uncertanity at it's core. Maybe I'm tired of being this person. Maybe all this stuff with mom is making me see that I could be something else. Maybe something more? Maybe it's all just starting to crack around me. Maybe it was always cracked and I didn't want to acknowledge it. Can I just throw off/away most of the past and head out in a new direction? Is that the direction I've really wanted to go in, but wouldn't? What happens if I don't? What happens if I do? What's going to inspire me? What if it all just starts and ends in Pekin?
It's these storms of thought that leave me tired. Really tired. And when they pass, I have no clearer sense of direction than I did before they hit.
*****
*At first, I had thought that I had just found a copy of Carrier Strike! that was complete, even though it was 36 years old. Mind you, the box has seen better days (it's got some water damage and a couple of split corners). It wasn't like the copy of Amoeba Wars that I also saw on this trip, that, while unpunched, was actually moldy inside the box. Anyway, after checking the piece count while still at the store, I was just happy to see that it was all there. But, upon further examination once I got it home, I discovered that it wasn't just complete, it hadn't even been completely assembled or punched yet. That makes it doubtful that it had ever been played. A 36 year old board game that had never been completely assembled, much less played. Freakin cool. Well worth the $20 I spent on it, in my opinion. When I checked it further, I found that not only had the planes not been assembled or stickered completely, neither had the carriers. It actually looked like the ships may have been put together and then disassembled, since the pins that held the superstructure to the deck were half broken off. Luckily, I have glue. As far as the planes go, I was actually thinking about trying to give them a bit of a paint job, rather than just those colored stickers on the wings.
But then I got to thinking. What had actually happened to cause this game to end up in my hands, unplayed, after all those years? Some unexpected tragedy, perhaps? Was it a gift that simply held no interest for the recipient? Did it somehow find its way into the back of a closet where it was forgotten over the years? How many hands has it passed through in all that time? Interesting to think about.
*I think I will give starting my own forum in the Black Lagoon a try. I've got a Flickr account for all the images to embed, so why shouldn't I? I mean aside from the fact that I already have more than enough stuff to do with what little free time I have. But then again, games are something that are very meagerly represented among the islands of the FOM.
*There doesn't seem like there's going to be much free time on my day off. Errands and chores are demanding most all of my time. I'm thinking that what could be at least a partial solution to that is to drag the office desk out into the middle of the yard and set it on fire. Nothing like a nice cheery fire on a cold winter day, right?
*****
*Do I want to go to Hawaii or Easter Island? Either way, it will most likely be a once in a lifetime trip. The Easter Island trip would be something we'd have to decide on in the next couple of weeks, and it wouldn't happen until 2014. I believe that it's a cruise, as well. Hawaii we were hoping for this year. No way we could do both. Might be a stretch just to do one of them.
*Seems fairly obvious now that finding, meeting, and getting to know my mom has really sent my brain reeling. Actually, that is probably a gross understatement. Actually, I don't think I should have used the word 'probably in the previous sentence. I have no idea how deeply this has affected me. And there is a boatload more backstory yet to be told. Not to mention the other half of my genetic makeup. Pretty much all the stuff that's been discussed so far has been pretty low key, and it's still managed to mess up my thoughts on levels I'm not completely aware of. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that this would all alter my sense of self. I don't even know if "alter" is the right word. What if this is a reconfiguration of some sort? Should this even affect me at that level? I know there's still an emotional component that hasn't been accessed yet. Don't know if I'm going to be willing to put down that protective layer of mine. Does that mean I'm somehow stunted? And if so, is it to a greater or lesser degree than the average person? Maybe all these years of not knowing built my sense of self with that kernel of uncertanity at it's core. Maybe I'm tired of being this person. Maybe all this stuff with mom is making me see that I could be something else. Maybe something more? Maybe it's all just starting to crack around me. Maybe it was always cracked and I didn't want to acknowledge it. Can I just throw off/away most of the past and head out in a new direction? Is that the direction I've really wanted to go in, but wouldn't? What happens if I don't? What happens if I do? What's going to inspire me? What if it all just starts and ends in Pekin?
It's these storms of thought that leave me tired. Really tired. And when they pass, I have no clearer sense of direction than I did before they hit.
*****
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