Interviewed by jazzfish
1) How’s life in Norfolk?
I really like it here. There’s more to do than I can possibly keep up with, lotsa good friends, and the scenery’s suprisingly good for a large metropolitan area. I do miss mountains, all the lovely folk in SWVA fandom, and not having to commute through a congested bridge-tunnel every day; and of course it would have been nice to be near my Mom when she got hurt. But otherwise, this is an excellent place to live.
2) What tech toy do you not own (and don’t plan on acquiring in the next three months) that you wish you did?
A GPS navigator for the Hyundai. I still do just enough convention driving and the like that it would come in handy.
3) What’s your favorite nonfiction book?
Douglas Hofstadter’s Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid. It’s a brain-stretcher of a book, one that I’ve had to read many times to access most of the meaning, but one full of fascinating ideas and profound concepts involving music, art, literature, language, biology, and computers. I must be a graduate of the book by now, though, since I think his views on the future of Artificial Intelligence are quite pessimistic. OTOH, what do I know?
4) What’s the worst job you’ve ever had?
Working the Copy Center counter at Staples. The work itself was fine, but I had such difficulty with abrasive customers and co-workers that it made my previous job of vacuuming and emptying trash cans for an office building look absolutely peaceful.
5) How fast do you type?
To my own great surprise, around 60-65 words a minute. Surprising, because I kind of two-finger type. An actual typewriter would kill me, because I hit the “delete” key a lot. Still, my old boss at Thrifty Nickel once said I was the fastest, most accurate bad typist he’d ever seen.
Der Ruleses:
1. Leave me a comment saying, “Interview me.”
2. I will respond by asking you 5 questions of a very personal nature.
3. Update your LJ with the answers to the questions.
4. Include this and an offer to interview someone else in the post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, ask them 5 questions.
Stay Cool
Wow. I was sick yesterday, and Starr’s sick today. Awesome. It might very well have been dehydration on both our parts, though I drink more water these days than I have in years.
I need to watch the latest Doctor Who very soon, it is apparently most excellent, and the net is bursting with spoilers that I am carefully avoiding. Stephen Moffat may be the best Who writer on the new show, responsible for The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances, The Girl In the Fireplace, and Blink; I’m not displeased at all that he’s in charge of 2010’s Series Five. The “Everybody lives!!” line still gets me right ‘there’.
And now, this year’s zombie meme:
You are in a mall when the zombies attack. You have:
1. one weapon.
2. one song blasting on the speakers.
3. one famous person to fight alongside you.
* Weapon can be real or fictional; you may assume endless ammo if applicable. Person can be real or fictional.
1) Phaser II, set to “vaporise”. With endless ammo, I can just hold down the trigger and sweep.
2) Queen, “Flight of the Hawkmen” (starts at about 1:08 in the video)
3) Tim the Enchanter (I think his skills would be well matched to the situation.)
Starr’s list:
1) Sonic Screwdriver (“I’m sure it has a ‘defeat zombies’ setting.”)
2) Meredith Brooks, “Bitch”
3) Kal-El
Sanity Clause?
H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society SaniTest – How Insane Are You?
Your SaniTest(TM) Results – Your score is: 103
INSANITY INDEX 5.24 Thank you for taking the SaniTest(TM). Your score suggests that you are phrenetic. Easily startled and prone to overreaction, it may be due to excessive exposure to unnatural stress and morbid imagery. Other people probably refer to you as ‘twitchy’ behind your back. Other notable people who scored at this level include PLO chairman Yasser Arafat and inventor/educator George Washington Carver.
Speak “Friend” and Enter
This morning I found a hotel cardkey from a 2007 con in my stuff. I’d feel guilty, except I know they churn these keys out by the millions, and since the whole thing is computer-controlled, they’ve already invalidated the darn thing. So now it’s a memento.
What got me thinking, though, is the memory of when hotels actually handed out metal keys, usually on large plastic keychains with the room number embossed on them. Yes, those were simpler times.
Oh, when I say “enter hotel rooms,” I mean one that you or a roommate have paid for. Room parties, rooms that you’re only responsible for as an event organizer, etc. don’t count.
(Yes, I know. “Auhorized” is a Space Rogues in-joke.)
Games under the tree
Definitely a traditional Christmas for me… History and Science channels on the tube, wrapping presents for others while being unable to wait to unwrap ours 🙂
My Munchkin collection is looking healthier! Starr gave me Munchkin Impossible and Munchkin Cthulhu I & II… now we have to invite someone over to play them with us. 2-handed Munchkin is much less fun.
Back in my Decipher days, Justin taught me how to play Carcassonne, and I’ve been wanting a copy for the years since. Never managed to pick it up, but I knew it was fun to play, so I picked up a set as a Christmas present for raininva when I heard she was gaming again. Well, guess what other game I got yesterday 🙂 Already broken it in, too. Fun!
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I received 85 credits on The Sci Fi Sounds Quiz How much of a Sci-Fi geek are you? |
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I had a little trouble with some of the older movies I haven’t seen yet…
Trek casting call
Haven’t posted online quiz results in a while, but the results amused me on this one that raininva and rattrap posted.
200 Things to Do Before You Post
So, there’s this list of 200 things you’re supposed to go through and bold what you’ve done. Some of them are very specific: I’d like to see Siouxsie and the Banshees in concert, for example, but it’s unlikely I will ever have the opportunity; I imagine that “fallen in love at an ancient Mayan burial ground” is pretty rare, too. A few of them conflict a bit; “Visited all 50 states” and “Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states” can both be accomplished, but at a real cost in time and money.
In the final tally, if I counted right, I managed 84 out of 200. I’m pleased with that result.
EDIT: Rain reminded me of one I missed. 85 🙂
Clearly a 6-man raid
Playing around with the WoW Item Creator…
No, it’s not actually in the game. 🙂
