Month: December 2003

Does anyone know when or if (or what) episode 87 of Cold Squad is on? Apparently “Dies ist Unverschamtheit” is being used in the episode. In other Thickets news…”Shoggoths Away” is being used in a Flash promo for a game called The Everlasting. I don’t know much about it, but I probably should.

I’m taking care of Ed & Janet’s cat while they’re on vacation. I get to take advantage of Ed’s vast video and DVD collection. Right now I’m borrowing Boogie Nights, Ghost World and Monty Python’s Meaning of Life while I work on Anghold’s Dec 25 present.

Did I ever tell you the story, gentle reader, of when I took care of Carina & Tim’s cats while they were away, a few weeks ago? Well they had The Temple of Elemental Evil (hey! synchronicity!) on their computer so whenever I went over there to feed the cats I would stay for a few hours and play said video game. Of course, I would never pick up the phone while I was there because, hey – it wasn’t for me. You all know my hours. I usually stay up until sometime between 3am and 6am, and such was also the case at Carina’s. When Carina & Tim got back from their vacation they told me they got all these noise complaints from a neighbor, and were being threatened with eviction. Now I couldn’t see how anyone could say that I was being noisy – I was playing the game at a normal volume level. Sometimes I kept the TV on when I wasn’t there, so that, you know…burglers would think twice if they looked through the windo. But again, normal volume. If not quieter than normal. Still, I was afraid Carina and Tim were never going to speak to me again, but as it turns out, the lady was crazy. And also it was somebody else in the building who was making the noise she was complaining about. And also the landlord apologized for overreacting. So everything turned out fine and they even invited me over to Tim’s birthday get-together the other day. And that’s my story.

Go Growlbacks!

Finally we (The Vancouver Gaming Guild) got our new site up at www.vancouvergamingguild.com complete with forums. I’m excited. And exciting. Let the nerds convene where they belong: online. We are pushing our big convention in January – Weathertop. Come one come all and play some games.

Made possible by Shawn, Stewie, Adrian, Michael Beck, Kathryn and Slater.

Stewie has left the building. I hope he will bring back some of his mother’s fantastic cooking. In the meantime, Kodos and I are partying on his bed. I gave him his Dec 25 present. He gave me two! One of them he made me open: it was a bunch of miniatures that fit perfectly with Spaceship Zero. I’m excited to run a game next month.

Well the episode of Enterprise wasn’t the Vulcan zombie episode, and it was in fact kind of sucky, and I’m really tired of Captain Archer being all deathly serious all the time. It was the one with the slave girl with eerie powers. The end was a lot more satisfying than the beginning or the middle though.

Tomorrow Stewie goes away for a week. So – I should give him his Dec 25 present.

Due to a certain gingerbread dungeon (below), I sent a link to this blog out to quite a few people. Professional gaming lists, etc. I find it amusing that some people expressed feeling voyeuristic and didn’t know if it was appropriate to comment, etc. Guys – it’s the internet. If I didn’t want you to read it/comment I wouldn’t have put it online.

I have a few tenets for my blogs. I like to think of it as good blog etiquette, and I hope you all subscribe to my wacky notions.

1. I try not to post links without at least a few words describing where you’re going to go when you click it. My regulars will know this. There are blogs out there that are nothing but a sequence of links. Boring. And often annoying. I go to friends’ blogs to read their opinions and feelings, not to get redirected to random crap. There are so many thin links all over the internet, many of which are simply predicated by “this is funny.” Frankly, that’s not good enough. If I have no idea where I’m going, chances are I’m not going to click that link.

2. I don’t post entries that mean nothing to anyone except myself. I have a private diary for my private thoughts. My online blog is for everyone. I try to keep the cryptic, teasing half-stories to a minimum. At least two of my blogging friends (to the left) are guilty of this, and it’s shameful. Shameful! Not to mention frustrating.

Anything to add?
Tomorrow (Sunday proper) I’m going to make hexmas prezzies, write, and if it’s the episode I think it is, watch Enterprise.

Merry Dec 25

You know what? You’re right.

If I’m sitting with a big pile of Dec 25 gifts on Dec 25 morning, and I go through them, unwrapping one after the other like so many gizmos on a conveyor belt, I might not appreciate each individual gift as well as I otherwise would if I spread the gifts out over several days or even weeks. Although I cannot deny the magic of sitting by the Dec 25 tree (or in my case, the drawing of it) surrounded by joyous material goods like I did when I was a kid*, receiving a gift on January 3rd would quite possibly make it even more special.

Thus – if your Dec 25 present from me is post-Dec 25, call it “extra love & meaning” not “lazyness and leaving it too late”.

Firstly: Yesterday was the best mail day ever. In the history. Of. Time.

Secondly: At the Placebo Sofa Cinema:

The STAR WARS festival. Saturday, Dec 20 at 3:00 pm. $5
The original movies (without digital “enhancements”) on laserdisc no less, along with a whole bunch of Star Wars madness! The Xmas special, commercials, the muppets… ahhhhh!

Let’s fuckin’ go!

Marlo made me post one of those silly internet surveys. With her guile, she did it. It contains information both trite and inspired. Read at your own risk. I promise a real entry will be made soon.

1. I am happiest when: I’m connecting with someone (usually emotionally AND physically) that I really care about.
2. I feel lonely when: I browse personals sites
3. The ideal relationship would be: soon – haha.
4. Favorite movie (s): Coen Brothers films, Wes Anderson films, Hayao Miyazaki films, and the movies in my head.
5. Favorite author: H.P. Lovecraft – duh!
6. What makes you cry: movies – especially with sad music; other things I’d rather not go into right now but that thankfully are rare; being bitten by the inland taipan snake.
7. Introvert or extrovert: Introvert
8. Do you think too much: Sometimes. But most of the time I don’t think enough.
9. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be: Doesn’t matter. More importantly is with whom.
10. A famous person you would like to meet: Chris Stewart. Anyone who’s not a jerk, I guess. Any of a myriad of artists better than me who could teach me a thing or two.
11. Do you believe in organized religion: I believe it exists.
12. Pro-life or pro-choice: Pro-common sense and foresight.
13. Are you a vegetarian: Sometimes.
15. Do angels or demons exist: IN MY PANTS!
17. Do you have any regrets: I sure do!
18. Sex or love: Love with a side order of sex.
19. Favorite coffee: Is there a coffee that doesn’t taste like coffee?
20. Brand of cigarettes: The brand that when you smoke money falls from the sky.
21. Favorite scent: Wood being burnt or cut – which is a terrible thing because wood being burnt or cut makes me sad (but not cry!)
22. What really makes you mad: commercials. Especially asinine commercials that I’m paying to have shown to me; Bureaucracy; forgetting how to spell “bureaucracy”
23. Favorite way to waste time: Sleeping is the only real waste of my time besides the time I spend focusing on things I can never have.
26. What is your best quality: My notable absence from high society.
27. Are you currently in love/lust: Yes.
28. What’s the craziest thing you have ever done: Um – started a Lovecraftian punk band? I’ve lived the same place for 7 years – that’s pretty crazy, and kind of sad.
30. Any bad habits: Obviously.
31. Do you find it hard to trust people: No.
32. Do you ever doubt yourself: Never. Or, actually, maybe I do.
33. Last book you read: It’s been too long since I read a book all the way to the end. I may have a problem.
34. Last thing you bought for yourself: fancy pens.
36. Favorite season: Fall. The “windy, orange” season
37. Porn or erotica: Can I choose erotica with photos/illustrations/video?
38. What is your favorite flavor: licorice; almost anything found in an Indian restaurant.
39. What is your favorite time of day: when the sun is setting and casting orange light on the clouds and tall buildings, which then reflects onto the street and all the people (especially if it happens to be windy). About a month or 2 ago the sky was filled with dark, low clouds, but the sun got through somewhere and reflected off the clouds to create a surreal, twilight-zonish suffused light that soaked into everyone on Oak Street. It was cool and I’d never seen anything quite like it before.
40. Gold or silver: potato.
41. What is the lamest pickup line someone has used on you: I don’t remember anyone ever using a pickup line on me. If they did, I probably wouldn’t have been able to tell. I am dense.
42. Silk sheets or cotton: potato.
43. Any secret crushes: Probably not-that-secret.
44. Do you ever feel you are insane: Once or twice I thought I was having a brain failure, but I wouldn’t classify that as insanity (yet).
45. Favorite style of music: good
46. Favorite film genre: good
47. If you could be the opposite sex for one day, would you do it: Absolutely. Unless there was some horrible ironic twist, like I was a woman without any fun bits, or I was a woman in a country where women are subjugated and treated like shit.
48. What do you desire most in life: to bring the most amount of joy to the people who most deserve it; to open/loosen up; to not have a horrible horrible disease; to accomplish many fun and exciting things.
49. Do you believe in destiny: I believe that if you fall, it is your destiny to hit the ground.
50. Is world peace attainable: Yes, in batches.
51. City or country: First city, then country. Then maybe city again. Then country?
52. Are you more inclined to set short or long term goals for yourself?: Short.

Feel free to cut and paste with your own answers (you may have to break it up if you want to post it in my comments, otherwise please send me a link to where I can read it.

I edited my wish list – added those black VHS cases you can get at London Drugs etc for…I dunno – I suspect 1.99 each (or less). I want to tidy up my video collection, you see.

The Temple of Gingerbread Evil

Last night we had a very small Snuggly Winter Get-Together/potluck right here at Home Base 302. I provided many nuts and oranges, as well as drinks. Yvonne arrived while I was at Sunshine Market and she made what I consider to be the finest dish hands down. I said hands down! Alright? Not that the other food was poo or anything, but I gotta tell ya, brown sugary yams with ginger and almonds. Tasty, tasty and tasty. Mr. Slater (aka cas) and Kathryn (aka kstanger) arrived from the depths of Langley with gingerbread cookies and Kraft Dinner. Mmmarlo showed with a massive load of coleslaw with crunchy noodles and a big ol’ bag of popcorn, with which many sewed garlands for our hexmas tree, which was hand drawn on the back of a ballet poster, complete with mistletoe and a cast iron tree stand. I made a sizeable batch of gingerbread while others decorated the cookies with dribbly ice cream. No, not dribbly – drooly. No, not drooly, drippy. No, not drippy, drizzly. Drizzly Adams. Anghold and Dalia the Conqueror came bearing a tasty bean salad (which I just finished off) and white trash nacho dip.

After food, we watched varous Christmas specials – like The Tick, Simpsons (not the first one with Santa’s Little Helper – the other one with Gary Coleman), Futurama (the two X-mas Santa robot ones), How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and Blackadder (not in that order). When the gingerbread was done, we cut out slabs and began construction on our ambitious gingerbread dungeon. Stewie even made little gingerbread characters. It’s not quite done yet, but when it is, I’ll post photos.

Yvonne & Marlo kept the couches from floating away throughout the night (bless their super-dense bodies) and today Y and I went to Loomis whereat I bought some more nifty pens. Oh, and a crazy old lady (there can be no other description, really) spat at and yelled at a nice fellow who was trying to pull her out of the way of a moving bus, on the grounds that he was a pursesnatcher. Now that I think about it, everytime I experience some sad and awkward encounter on the streets of Vancouver I’m with Yvonne. Hmmm…

A sequence of events that will change the course of your life forever.

Tonight: Gingerbread Dungeon. Awwwwwwwww yeahhhhhhhhhhh. Bring your cameras.

I’m listening to techno, and have been for at least 2.5 hours.