Well, not so bad, as it turns out. Starting Christmas morning--well, early afternoon--I popped Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess into the Gamecube and started mashing buttons. Now a full week and 54 hours of gameplay later, I've finished the game.
Well, "finished" in the sense of beating the final enemy. There's a bunch of side quests that I haven't completed (at least 25 heart pieces and another 30 Poe souls, and I'm still not sure how to get at that chest outside the south gate of Hyrule Castle Town. And I just can't bring myself to mash buttons just to get to the bottom of the Cave of Ordeals, having made it to the 40th level. And who knows what all else I missed along the way). But it's done. Game Over. The End. I never have to buy another video game again as long as I live.
At least until "Phantom Hourglass" comes out. But I have to get a DS before I can play that.
For the record, I didn't just play Nintendo over break. I also played some poker on the computer. I've marked some papers, read some drafts, almost finished the reviews of one paper and one grant, set up next month's spectrogram for the website, and even made a good start on the stack of letters of recommendation I wanted to get out before Christmas. Okay, family-wise, I'm still working on getting Xmas 2004 out the door, but that's so back-burner I can't even work up the guilt over it any more.
So all in all 2006 will end well, with tight, but not seized up and swollen, first MCP joints on both hands. 2007 will begin badly, with getting yelled at by the endocrinologist, but that's my burden.
Hippo Gnu Ears from Blue Teddy Central.
Sunday, 31 December 2006
Monday, 18 December 2006
So, two-and-a-half years later ...
I've said elsewhere that I'm basically a Nintendo guy. I've also decided that I'm in serious fiscal responsibility mode, for reasons which readers of this blog should find obvious. So new game systems are absolutely out for the time being. Nonetheless, some games cannot be overlooked.
So it is with "The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess". Released last month for Nintendo's nextgen system (Wii), it has now been released for GameCube. Which is a good thing, since it was first announced for GameCube a looooong time ago. And then delayed. And dithered about. And promised that it would not be released only for the nextgen system (then known only as "Revolution"). So early in 2004, as I recall, when they first announced it would be out "this fall", I went to a local games place, plunked $5 down, and reserved a copy.
So on December 16th of this year, I got a long-awaited phone call. It's in. I had to fight down the urge to go running off to the mall all weekend (but it is the weekend before the weekend before Christmas, after all). Finally picked it up this morning.
And now I'm at peace. I don't hear it calling to me from the trunk of my car. I just know it's there and am comfortable. I'm planning to rip open the package on Christmas Eve (cuz you can open one present on Christmas Eve, right before bed), and drift off to sleepyland reading the manual (because I always read the manual). And I expect to spend Christmas Day in a frenzy of gaming, not to be interrupted (except for food and assorted critical functions) until my right thumb is swollen until at least three times its normal size. I call it "Nintendo Thumb". It's painful, it's debilitating (I can't write, type, drive, or just about anything else useful with my dominant hand) for days until the swelling goes down, and it could just be one of those things that you recover from when you're young and not so much when you're older. And it's how I plan to spend much of the week between Christmas and New Years.
Which means I have to get all my papers marked and letters of recommendation written before Christmas. Eve. And this shouldn't be a problem. Except that it's what I meant to spend all of last week doing, and didn't. So we'll see. I'll keep you posted.
So it is with "The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess". Released last month for Nintendo's nextgen system (Wii), it has now been released for GameCube. Which is a good thing, since it was first announced for GameCube a looooong time ago. And then delayed. And dithered about. And promised that it would not be released only for the nextgen system (then known only as "Revolution"). So early in 2004, as I recall, when they first announced it would be out "this fall", I went to a local games place, plunked $5 down, and reserved a copy.
So on December 16th of this year, I got a long-awaited phone call. It's in. I had to fight down the urge to go running off to the mall all weekend (but it is the weekend before the weekend before Christmas, after all). Finally picked it up this morning.
And now I'm at peace. I don't hear it calling to me from the trunk of my car. I just know it's there and am comfortable. I'm planning to rip open the package on Christmas Eve (cuz you can open one present on Christmas Eve, right before bed), and drift off to sleepyland reading the manual (because I always read the manual). And I expect to spend Christmas Day in a frenzy of gaming, not to be interrupted (except for food and assorted critical functions) until my right thumb is swollen until at least three times its normal size. I call it "Nintendo Thumb". It's painful, it's debilitating (I can't write, type, drive, or just about anything else useful with my dominant hand) for days until the swelling goes down, and it could just be one of those things that you recover from when you're young and not so much when you're older. And it's how I plan to spend much of the week between Christmas and New Years.
Which means I have to get all my papers marked and letters of recommendation written before Christmas. Eve. And this shouldn't be a problem. Except that it's what I meant to spend all of last week doing, and didn't. So we'll see. I'll keep you posted.
Tuesday, 12 December 2006
Ah, unrequited love
I'm in love. And true to form, the object of my affection is slightly unattainable.
I looked at a townhouse last night. Technically, I might be able to afford it, but it would mean not affording anything else, possibly ever. So probably no go. But ...
Perfect location. Two bedrooms + 'bonus room' (larger than my first apartment in LA). Master en suite with walk-in (larger than my first office) and balcony. 2nd bath on bedroom floor. Washer/dryer on bedroom level (where the h*ll it belongs).
Main floor is mostly open concept. L-shaped kitchen with large island. Hardwood dining/living rooms with screened in 3-season room. Powder room. Two-car garage with direct access to the house. Full freakin' basement.
I tell ya, if the cooktop had been in the island instead of the against a wall, I'd be at the mortgage broker's right now. But it's not, and anyway, I can't really afford it. Just shy of $280K. Yeesh.
But it turns out the apartment condos in the same development do have underground parking (which is a requirement for me) and may be more affordable. And there's a less expensive development going in on the next block (all apartment condos, and most one-bedroom one-bath affairs, and I promised myself if I moved it would be into at least two bedrooms and at least two baths, which might be possible and said to be less expensive over all. So maybe I can scale back expectations (for a while) and move into something slightly less than 'perfect' (sob) soon, and then revisit the whole thing in 5-10 years.
But *sigh*. Me wantee. Me wantee bad.
So if anyone can put me into an interesting space, in the S/SW section of the city, at least two bedrooms, at least two baths, underground/garage parking, W/D somewhere useful, for something I might be able to afford (or at least live with for 5-10 years), let me know.
I looked at a townhouse last night. Technically, I might be able to afford it, but it would mean not affording anything else, possibly ever. So probably no go. But ...
Perfect location. Two bedrooms + 'bonus room' (larger than my first apartment in LA). Master en suite with walk-in (larger than my first office) and balcony. 2nd bath on bedroom floor. Washer/dryer on bedroom level (where the h*ll it belongs).
Main floor is mostly open concept. L-shaped kitchen with large island. Hardwood dining/living rooms with screened in 3-season room. Powder room. Two-car garage with direct access to the house. Full freakin' basement.
I tell ya, if the cooktop had been in the island instead of the against a wall, I'd be at the mortgage broker's right now. But it's not, and anyway, I can't really afford it. Just shy of $280K. Yeesh.
But it turns out the apartment condos in the same development do have underground parking (which is a requirement for me) and may be more affordable. And there's a less expensive development going in on the next block (all apartment condos, and most one-bedroom one-bath affairs, and I promised myself if I moved it would be into at least two bedrooms and at least two baths, which might be possible and said to be less expensive over all. So maybe I can scale back expectations (for a while) and move into something slightly less than 'perfect' (sob) soon, and then revisit the whole thing in 5-10 years.
But *sigh*. Me wantee. Me wantee bad.
So if anyone can put me into an interesting space, in the S/SW section of the city, at least two bedrooms, at least two baths, underground/garage parking, W/D somewhere useful, for something I might be able to afford (or at least live with for 5-10 years), let me know.
Monday, 11 December 2006
Hmm, archery
Although I must say I'm a little concerned about the 60% Hephaestus thing....
 | You scored as Apollo. You are most like Apollo - god of the arts, archery, and divination
What Greek god are you? (Males Only) (pics) created with QuizFarm.com |
Monday, 4 December 2006
Ah, the myth of the unmarked West rears its ugly head again
Thanks to ol' buddy Mike Flynn (no, he's not dead) for this one:
| hat American accent do you have? Your Result: The West Your accent is the lowest common denominator of American speech. Unless you're a SoCal surfer, no one thinks you have an accent. And really, you may not even be from the West at all, you could easily be from Florida or one of those big Southern cities like Dallas or Atlanta. | |
| The Midland | |
| North Central | |
| Boston | |
| The Inland North | |
| Philadelphia | |
| The South | |
| The Northeast | |
| What American accent do you have? Take More Quizz | |
(The blog software doesn't like the markup for this one. Suffice to say that those lines are supposed to be a cute little bar graph.)
Thursday, 23 November 2006
Some people worry about computers being 'too smart'
I've said this before, but computers are just not smart enough.
In particular, I believe computers, or at least my office computer, should be smarter.
In particular, if I'm writing an e-mail that includes the line "I'm attaching to this e-mail a file called 'somefile.pdf'", the computer should be smart enough to attach the bleep-ing file called 'somefile.pdf' to the bleep-ing e-mail.
Or failing that, it should be smart enough to ask "Do you really want to send this e-mail without attaching "somefile.pdf" like you said you would?"
If computers, or in particular my computer, could do this, much valuable bandwidth and disk space could be spared.
And at least in my case, many, many useless e-mails could be avoided.
And before you object: Of course it is the computer that should be smarter. I'm smart enough.
In particular, I believe computers, or at least my office computer, should be smarter.
In particular, if I'm writing an e-mail that includes the line "I'm attaching to this e-mail a file called 'somefile.pdf'", the computer should be smart enough to attach the bleep-
Or failing that, it should be smart enough to ask "Do you really want to send this e-mail without attaching "somefile.pdf" like you said you would?"
If computers, or in particular my computer, could do this, much valuable bandwidth and disk space could be spared.
And at least in my case, many, many useless e-mails could be avoided.
And before you object: Of course it is the computer that should be smarter. I'm smart enough.
Friday, 17 November 2006
The last time I saw a tumbleweed
The last time I saw a tumbleweed, I was driving in my car across the desert, everything I own in the back, starting an adventure--leaving the relative safety and comfort (or at least familiarity) of LA and off to my post-doc in Madison, WI. I drove the Route 66 route, but on the interstates, because, with everything you own in the back seat, who needs to increase the mileage of the trip by at least three times what it needs to be? So I missed all the road-side attractions and all that. But anyway, shortly after crossing the river into Arizona, there it was, a tumbleweed. Stark, lone, and cliché. Tumbling across the highway and on to destiny.
Well, no such symbolism this morning. On the way in to work this morning, there was a delay at at the Stafford intersection with Pembina highway. A pair of tumbleweeds, or at least roundish dry dead bushy things, was rolling across the roadway, branches locked together in some kind of desperate — no, there was no symbolism. I hadn't had any coffee yet. Anyway, where they came from, I have no idea. They ended up rolling up between some planters outside of a building across the street, and for all I know that's where they'll spend the rest of their days, buried in snow, slowly disintegrating until there's nothing left.
Hey, maybe there's a metaphor in there after all.
Well, no such symbolism this morning. On the way in to work this morning, there was a delay at at the Stafford intersection with Pembina highway. A pair of tumbleweeds, or at least roundish dry dead bushy things, was rolling across the roadway, branches locked together in some kind of desperate — no, there was no symbolism. I hadn't had any coffee yet. Anyway, where they came from, I have no idea. They ended up rolling up between some planters outside of a building across the street, and for all I know that's where they'll spend the rest of their days, buried in snow, slowly disintegrating until there's nothing left.
Hey, maybe there's a metaphor in there after all.
Tuesday, 14 November 2006
My favo(u)rite subject ...
… is me, but that should be obvious.
Lately, I've been coming out pretty squarely ISTJ (Inspector/Guardian). For those of you who don't know what that means, I don't have time to explain it. It has to do with the Myers-Briggs personality type sorter, especially as interpreted and sorted by Kiersey. See Myers-Briggs at Team Technology or Kiersey.com for more information.
Ennyhoo, I'm always looking for more information about me, and thanks to the internet, there's lots to be found. Some are based on real psychometric research, and others are just goofs. But to the degree that some of these things actually can provide me with insights about myself, they're fun. Included here are links to tests, as well as my results. Just for fun. I've re-formatted most of from the way their authors provided them, because I couldn't stand all the unnecessary code.
From the Political Quiz at okcupid.com.
| You are a Social Liberal (71% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (33% permissive) You are best described as a:Democrat
|
The Personailty Profile folks find that I have low extroversion and conscientiousness,but average agreeableness, emotional stability and openness. Check out my personality profile!
According to the Stupid Test and NerdTests.com, I'm pretty smart.
According to several quizzes from Blue Pyramid:
You're Sudan!
Every time you get a headache, you reach for some aspirin, only to realize that
someone destroyed it. That's just how things are going for you right now ... it's
hard to eat, hard to sleep, hard to not have a headache. You try to relax, but
people always jump on you about something that doesn't make sense. If you were a
goat, you'd be a Nubian. Take the Country Quiz at the Blue Pyramid.
You're a Dodo!
Awkward and rather unsure of yourself, you can never quite seem to keep up with everyone else. This sense you have of falling behind has only heightened over the years, and you are beginning to wonder if you'll be forgotten about entirely. When they do consider you, most folks think you're rather stupid. What they don't know is that they'll miss you if you ever leave, even though they assume they won't. At the moment, people still don't want to go your way. Take the Animal Quiz at the Blue Pyramid.
And interestingly enough...
You're the University of Washington!
A visionary for your area, you truly can see it all. At the same time, you used
to be prone to burning out and trying to do it all. You have to remember that
you're just one person, and can't be responsible for a whole community. But
this is a lesson you've managed to learn long ago and now you rely on all sorts
of people. Many of them really enjoy looking at you. Even though it seems like
an out-of-date phrase, you're a big fan of dubbing things. Take the University Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.
And according to Out of Service.com, my Star Wars twins are Admiral Ackbar (20th %ile conventionality), Han Solo (13th %ile conscientiousness,Wampas (15th% %ile extroversion), Boba Fett (22% agreeableness) and Leia (18th %ile neuroticism).
Click to see my Star Wars Personality!!
On the other hand, someone at Quizilla thinks I'm Luke. Or perhaps Darth Vader. I'm not quite sure what this result means:
And perhaps my favo(u)rite quiz of all time:
Saturday, 11 November 2006
Blue Teddy
So that's Blue Teddy. My favo(u)rite bear. The first stuffed animal I thought of as 'mine'. Turns out there was an earlier one, the kind with a music box in his butt, but my sister broke it, so by the time I became aware of 'mine' and 'yours' Brownie (he was brown) (well, beige) wasn't 'really' mine.
Bluey came from a church bazaar, as I recall, when I was really, really little. Four, maybe five, I think. We were in the 'new house', the house I grew up in where my parents still live, so at least four. Anyway, I got him in a game or something. Or maybe someone bought him for me. I don't remember. But he was all mine. And I named him "Blue Teddy" because even then I was so creative no one could keep up with me.
His ears fit perfectly in my little hand, so I used to carry him everywhere by his right ear, which is why it's a little floppy today. His mouth is drawn on, originally in felt pen or something so it has been redrawn several times. The ribbon I added in college. I forget why.
He's gone everywhere with me, and he's still enormously special to me. He lives among a plethora of other blue bears, which I started collecting in Grad School (when it was still very hard to find blue bears). I'm thinking of downscaling the collection, since most of them aren't 'special'. But Blue will always be with me, if I have anything to say about it.
Bluey came from a church bazaar, as I recall, when I was really, really little. Four, maybe five, I think. We were in the 'new house', the house I grew up in where my parents still live, so at least four. Anyway, I got him in a game or something. Or maybe someone bought him for me. I don't remember. But he was all mine. And I named him "Blue Teddy" because even then I was so creative no one could keep up with me.
His ears fit perfectly in my little hand, so I used to carry him everywhere by his right ear, which is why it's a little floppy today. His mouth is drawn on, originally in felt pen or something so it has been redrawn several times. The ribbon I added in college. I forget why.
He's gone everywhere with me, and he's still enormously special to me. He lives among a plethora of other blue bears, which I started collecting in Grad School (when it was still very hard to find blue bears). I'm thinking of downscaling the collection, since most of them aren't 'special'. But Blue will always be with me, if I have anything to say about it.
Friday, 10 November 2006
What I do instead of sleep
I was going to go to bed early tonight. And then I started thinking about catching up with stuff. And it took longer than I thought it would.
It's been this way all day. I got into work about 11:30pm, and took care of some e-mail, and some other business. Then I started to prepare a presentation I'm making in a couple of weeks. And four hours later, I was still on slide 13. And it was all text. Usually, when something takes that long, I hit a slide that requires a diagram, or some numbers, or something and I have to take care of that (before I forget about it) before going on. But four slides an hour, all text, and it's not even like I making up the content as I go, is just slow. Even for me.
So I don't get up and go home until after 6pm. I pick up some food on the way home and eat, doing some personal e-mail and watching "Pinky and the Brain" on DVD. More on that another time. And about 9:30, I think I could get ready for bed if I really felt like it. And I do. So I start getting ready for bed. But then I see myself in a mirror and realize that if I don't wash the gunk out of my hair that I put in this morning, I *not* going to be happy tomorrow, so I hop into the shower. And then I have to wait for my hair to dry, so I sit down and start another episode of "PatB". And then I go on line and realize that I need to update some software. And that takes a while. And then I realize I haven't blogged for a while, and I look up the blog and think about all the stuff I meant to do with the blog this week: put up my picture of Blue Teddy, update my links (from the links from my other web presence). And then I look up at the clock and it's midnight.
So picture's up, links are up, and I'm going to bed. Real content of some kind tomorrow.
It's been this way all day. I got into work about 11:30pm, and took care of some e-mail, and some other business. Then I started to prepare a presentation I'm making in a couple of weeks. And four hours later, I was still on slide 13. And it was all text. Usually, when something takes that long, I hit a slide that requires a diagram, or some numbers, or something and I have to take care of that (before I forget about it) before going on. But four slides an hour, all text, and it's not even like I making up the content as I go, is just slow. Even for me.
So I don't get up and go home until after 6pm. I pick up some food on the way home and eat, doing some personal e-mail and watching "Pinky and the Brain" on DVD. More on that another time. And about 9:30, I think I could get ready for bed if I really felt like it. And I do. So I start getting ready for bed. But then I see myself in a mirror and realize that if I don't wash the gunk out of my hair that I put in this morning, I *not* going to be happy tomorrow, so I hop into the shower. And then I have to wait for my hair to dry, so I sit down and start another episode of "PatB". And then I go on line and realize that I need to update some software. And that takes a while. And then I realize I haven't blogged for a while, and I look up the blog and think about all the stuff I meant to do with the blog this week: put up my picture of Blue Teddy, update my links (from the links from my other web presence). And then I look up at the clock and it's midnight.
So picture's up, links are up, and I'm going to bed. Real content of some kind tomorrow.
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