Random Access

<midday dance break>
      *groove*
</midday dance break>

Thursday : 01 September 05
It was another busy-ish day at the office. That’s good. I like it like that.

and I headed to Deseret Industries – the LDS Church’ version of Goodwill – to look for some Hawai’ian shirts, after work; we need ’em for ‘ wedding tomorrow. I broke out with two shirts; she found one. When I got home, I made the mistake of plopping down in the comfy chair. An hour and some serious change later, I woke up.

The High-Flying Adventures of Indigo Bolt     
I started off the night a few hundred points – out of 11,000 – into Security Level 15. I need nearly 11,000 By the time I ended, I was only a few thousand away from Level 16. I got into a couple of really good (and small) teams. We dispensed justice to many of Paragon City’s less noble citizens tonight. And all without any death and experience debt.

Stray Toasters

• I think that I would like one of these.
• Icosihenagon
• I have been trying to remember a name for the past three days. I finally came up with it tonight, thanks to Google: Improv Everywhere
• Something for , and from The Escapist: Death to the Games Industry: Long Live Games (The story continues via the “next” link in the lower right corner.)
• From technudge.com: CNET’s Quote of the Day
  Following China’s recent introduction of measures to combat its citizens’ addiction to online role-playing games, gamers offered their perspective on the BBC’s Web site. Naveed Khan of London likened his addiction to “World of Warcraft” to being an alcoholic.

  “I’d get withdrawal symptoms within five minutes of leaving the game. I’d only leave for a drink, but I’d run back to my machine,” he said. “I call the experience a virtual drop. You just sink and sink…But you can’t deny the buzz…and it’s difficult to let go…If people knew they would become an alcoholic, would they still make that first step? I think not.”

• I received a very cool compliment from this afternoon.
• Why I never forward those cute emails you send me
• For – Batman’s Rogues Gallery figures from DC Direct:
  • Black Mask
  • Mr. Freeze
  • Man-Bat
  • Killer Croc
• Close enough to touch… but just out of reach.
• iPod Nearly Dooms New Zealand
• Superman II – Restored Intenational Cut Reviewed

Namaste.

Wednesday : 31 August 05
And so, August comes to a close. It’s amazing how time flies. It was at the beginning of August last year that I quit my old job… and began a FAR-too-long period of unemployment. And it was not because I didn’t want to work, but I just couldn’t seem to find anything, appealing or otherwise. It’s a bad feeling to want to work and not be given an opportunity to do so. Fortunately, I was offered a job with my current company… and it’s a job that I enjoy. I like the people with whom I work. I like the work environment. It’s just all-around good.

We started ‘ Call of Cthulhu game tonight. None of our party died, but I gave it the old college try. I wouldn’t have had a major problem with starting a new character, as I have not yet gotten attached to the one I’m playing. The game is set in the 1920s. Yep… pre-Civil Rights era. And I’m playing a 26-year-old Black male. So, the campaign is part-game, part-history lesson for the others in the group: A couple of them seemed shocked when Nox and I mentioned that while my character had been in the Army, he was part of an all-Black unit. And that most doctors of the time would not treat Black patients… unless the doctor was, himself, Black or had been educated in an institution where skin color wasn’t as important as aptitude and ability. I also decided that my character worked as a railroad porter after returning home. This gave him an opportunity to travel and learn more about the country and local lore – not enough to be an expert, but just enough that he could say,”Oh yeah… I’ve heard about that.” *shrug* I was looking for a way to make the character interesting and to flesh him out a bit, rather than just have some cardboard-cutout character.

Hmm… maybe I’m a little more attached to the character than I had originally thought.

As this weekend is a holiday weekend, I’ll go ahead and say “Happy Birthday” to the September LJers now:

Stray Toasters

• I came home and took a nap this afternoon. It was nice. The twins, at least for a while, came up and sprawled out on the bed with me.
• Eric sent me a link to I’m Bored!!!. I was pleasantly surprised to see Mil Millington’s Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About on the list. Eric hadn’t looked at it before. I tried to explain the concept to him and finally told him that he should just check it out for himself. Shortly thereafter, the laughing began. One of the incidents reminded him of this.
• Buzzscope’s review of Mirrormask
• Gizmodo Japan: Auto door
• Paul Guilfoyle, who can be seen as Capt. Jim Brass on CBS’ CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, will be providing the voice of Travis Morgan, The Warlord, on an upcoming episode of JLU. I can’t tell from the episode synopsis…
  

  “Supergirl, Stargirl and Green Lantern go to Skartaris, the fantastic, hidden world at the Earth’s core, to help free it from the rule of a brutal dictator.”

  …if Morgan is supposed to be the hero of Skartaris or the dictator. I don’t want to make assumptions based on the various comic book series (in which he was the hero), so I’ll just wait and see.

• Automated Pool System Saves Swimmer
• : Exclusive Covert Ops Clone Trooper Action Figure
• From Real Tech News: Creative Zen Neon Shipped with Windows Wullik.b Worm

Namaste.

Tuesday : 30 August 05
Today was a busy day – I had plenty to keep me occupied and that, in turn, made the day move along at a nice pace.

Today’s workout was good, too. It was a decent upper body workout. And… it seems as though I’m definitely getting back to where I was: I’m nearly bench pressing my body weight. *nod* That makes me very happy.

After work, I saved the world for an hour and then just lazed about the house. I headed over to ‘s for a bit; she and one of her sons were watching Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame, which I had never seen. It was a surprisingly – at least to me – dark film. It harkened back to Snow White or Sleeping Beauty or the Night on Fire Mountain vignette from Fantasia. From there, it was on to pay a visit to . and his Missus were there. We chatted about gaming geekiness for a bit.

Top to bottom, it was an all-around good day.

The High-Flying Adventures of Indigo Bolt     
Can you say “Security Level 15,” boys and girls?
“Fif – teen”
There! I knew you could do it!

I know that I have alternately panned and praised what I’ve come to call “the most useless superpower ever:” Hover… but I had an epiphany. Of sorts. I noticed something a couple of nights ago that makes Hover – in this one instance ONLY – better than Flight: I have an Endurance enhancement attached to Hover that keeps it from tiring me out when I use it. Flight had no such slot. With my new level, I didn’t get any powers, but I had the chance to add some enhancement slots to my existing ones. Guess which power got its very own, brand spankin’ new Endurance enhancement slot. That’s right: Flight. Let the aerial beatdowns begin continue!

The groups with which I teamed tonight (this evening and later in the night) both had their acts together. They knew how to effectively attack groups and individuals. That’s a pleasant thing to see. Unfortunately, there are far too many gamers/teams who just don’t get the concept of:”No, we don’t want to fight everybody at once. We want to pick and choose, at least, as much as we can.” Those are the groups that get people dead… and earn them experience debt.

Stray Toasters

• I listened to some jazz tonight on KUER. One of the songs (its name eludes me) was piano jazz. It reminded me of a trip I took to New York in 1997. I was visiting my uncle and we wound up going to Birdland; we took in dinner and a couple of great jazz sets.
• By way of boingboing.net: 1864 “Freedom Primer” for slaves
• Even the Dead Cannot Cancel Their AOL Accounts
• TechNudge, written by Bill O’Brien (formerly of Computer Shopper‘s “The Hard Edge” column, had an article in it that deserves reprinting:
  

  For Those of You Who Can’t Afford an iPod

  Don’t know why I haven’t mentioned this before but you do know that if you can’t afford an iPod you can’t get a similar device that has unlimited music capacity, unlimited Podcasting capability, some features that surpass what the iPod currently offers, and probably costs 1/5th as much — it’s called a pocket AM/FM radio.

• : The Legion will be featured in an upcoming episode of Justice League Unlimited. Additionally, it looks as though Warner Bros. will be doing a Legion cartoon… in the near future. The only problem that I had with the article that announced it was the comment the animation would lean more towards the style of Teen Titans than that of JLU. Oh, well… can’t win ’em all.
• The Jack Kirby Museum
• Knowing of my affinity for comics and superheroes, Eric (coworker) sent me a link to this StrongBad email
• Coming soon to Holland: Library that lets you take out people who are left on the shelf
• Free 3D Models of Great Buildings
• Not only has Gary Coleman moved to Utah, he’s the pitch man for a “quick cash” place. I saw the ad this afternoon, while I was at the gym.
• “Mom said I could…” (Borderline non-work-safe at the end)

Namaste.

Monday : 29 August 05

Going to bed late and getting up early? Not the best combination, but I manage. On the whole, it was a rather good day. The boost of frozen mocha goodness didn’t hurt, either. Neither did lunch with ; we went to Asian Star. I hadn’t been there in many moons.

came over this evening and we watched the St. Louis Rams take it to the house on the Detroit Lions. In the Lions’ house, at that. As my grandmother would have said: “That’s just a sin and a shame.” We watched a bit of a Chris Rock stand-up after that.

The High-Flying Adventures of Indigo Bolt     
Akrael – the Killer of Skulls and I meted out justice to some rather deserving recipients on one of his missions. I accrued, and subsequently worked off, a small bit of experience debt. And, may I add: Aberrants are not fun to fight. But, taking them down brings a good number of experience points. Now, I’m only 3500 points away from Security Level 15. Can’t argue with that!

Stray Toasters

• I can’t stop eating these pistachios. Hopefully, it won’t turn out like the time I couldn’t stop eating sunflower seeds.
• Why do I like Monday Night Football? Well, other than the obvious – and the fact that John Madden is there, at least for this year – I like it because they occasionally throw out some interesting stats:
  • Lowest winning percentage over the past four seasons: The Cleveland Browns.
  • Currently playing football teams who have never been to the Super Bowl: The Cleveland Browns (36 years)

  This makes me smile.

• I had forgotten that Samuel L. Jackson was in Coming to America.
• Duck Hunt + Doom = Duck Doom
• By way of Nox: Alien Loves Predator
• Fast food establishments should be just that: “Fast.”
• Chun Li, she was my character of choice when playing Street Fighter. I used to refer to her as “Thunder Kick Barbie.”
• From Mirrormask, the Sphinx Cat:
• Presto just came down here, in search of some attention/affection. She and Lightning have gotten big. They are both larger than Sissy. Lightning, because of his thick fur, looks almost twice as big as the girls.
• Ross’ Superman and Aquaman find new work
• : You might want to click here for information about the upcoming Birds of Prey storyline that focuses on a certain Ms. Barbara Gordon.

Namaste.

Sunday : 28 August 05
Today was a good day. I didn’t go for a ride. Instead, I opted to sleep in. And it was good. Very good. The highlights of the day included, but are not limited to:

• Sleeping in.
• Coffee with and Perry.
• Dinner with , Perry and Max.
• Watching the “better than the theatrical release” director’s edition of Daredevil.
  (Broken Frontier just reviewed it, in fact.)

• Fixing something that I neglected to take care of on ‘s computer.
  *sigh* I’m usually not that forgetful.

• Saving the world (or at least, Paragon City).

The High-Flying Adventures of Indigo Bolt     
I wonder what it’s like to be a superhero…
I wonder what I’d do if I could fly around downtown…

Oh, wait…
I don’t have to wonder.
I am a superhero and I can do that.

Tonight was “run around and beat on things” night. I ran into another player who was working on the same mission that I was, so we teamed up. A short while later, , in the guise of Akrael, joined us. And many beatdowns were handed out. Despite dying twice – which is still a royal pain in the ass – I made it about 35% of the way to Security Level 15. And that ain’t bad at all.

And have I mentioned: With your subscription to City of Heroes you also get a subscription to the City of Heroes comic book, by Top Cow/Image. I think that’s pretty slick.

Stray Toasters

• I don’t typically eat Alfredo sauce on spaghetti; I’m traditionally a tomato-based sauce kind of guy. But for dinner, I had both a meat sauce and Alfredo over my pasta. Nox might be on to something after all…
• Cats are funny. They aren’t… say… as funny as monkeys, maybe, but they are funny.
• By way of Slashdot: Coffee has numerous health benefits
  (I assume that they mean other than stabilizing me and keeping me from hurting people. WHAT?!? Oh, come on. That really is a health benefit. It IS!)

• : You can berate me for this later, but I picked up the new issue of Teen Titans. The one that Liefeld drew. He doesn’t seem to add 63 ribs to peoples’ chests anymore, but there’s still something about his art that isn’t… “right.”
• Have you come here for forgiveness?
  Have you come to raise the dead?
  Have you come here to play Jesus
  To the lepers in your head?

• Shoreh Aghdashloo, last seen as Dina Araz on last season’s 24, will be in X-Men 3 as Cecilia Reyes. Interesting…
• I am going to start keeping a list of “Rob’s Pet Peeves.”
• : I just polished off a box of Screaming Yellow Zonkers.

That’s it for now. There would possibly be more, but I don’t recall what was in the version of this post that my computer ate.

Namaste.

Saturday : 27 August 05

<< REWIND <<
Friday was a good day.

Since we work only three buiIdings apart, I had lunch with . Dasks. Tasty.

Our company summer picnic was also yesterday. Engineers and technicians (and their families) in the sun. For those of you who are already laughing, you understand. For those of you who are not, don’t worry… just trust me: It’s funny. Watching the volleyball “game” was pure comedy. The tennis matches were decent, though. I was waiting for a “grudge match” between Golden (my team lead) and John (one of my team’s testers). There’s been some playful static about Golden beating John at a go-cart race last year… by two one-hundredths of a second. So, John sought his revenge on “the Court of Honor.” And he got it. I’m sure that there will be much rejoicing (read: “Gloating”) on Monday morning.

After the picnic, it was on to this week’s Clitorati gathering. The usual suspects – plus – were there. Nyx didn’t draw on my head this week, though. Oh, well.

> PLAY >
I had coffee with Perry this morning. He brought a box of some of the custom HeroClix that he had made. And among them…

     
That’s right: My very own Indigo Bolt custom ‘Clix. I have my own (very tiny) action figure. How cool is that?!

After coffee I came home for a bit before called and asked me to help move a couch. I went over, we moved the couch, and chatted for a little while.

I came home and patrolled The Hollows with a group. I’m not sure whose mission we were on, but we were in over our heads from the get-go. There was plenty of death to be had for everyone involved. It wasn’t a pretty sight. That group disbanded rather quickly. I was asked to join another group within a couple of minutes of leaving the first one. This team knew how to work together and in an effective manner. There was a point where we got swarmed and killed, but I can accept dying because we were attacked by two or three groups much more easily than I can through inept gameplay.

I headed to ‘ to play HeroClix with him, Chris and Christopher. We decided who was going to be teamed up (Nox and me vs. Chris and Christopher) and what figures we were using and then we played. Nox and I were defeated, rather handily… but we put up what I think was a respectable fight. Christopher and Alexis left after that game; came over and we played a game called Munchkin. As Nox describes it: “It’s like being a 12-year-old player in a D&D game run by a 10-year-old.” And for those of you who have no idea what that means: “It’s just silly fun.”

Breakfast was a small affair, but good, nevertheless.

It’s late and I am extremely tired. Time to wander the Wildways to The Dreaming.

Namaste.

Friday : 26 August 05
All-in-all, a good day, but I’m tapped.

More later.

Thursday : 25 August 05
It was a day without caffeine. No one should have to endure that. But, I made it. Just like Rush’ Tom Sawyer, I got right on to the friction of the day. And it wasn’t a bad day, either. Work proceeded apace and the lunchtime gym visit was good.

Tonight was “Rescheduled Shadowrun Game Night”. All the pieces are starting to come together now:

One character’s past has come back to haunt him.
One character’s present has collided with the aforementioned past.
One character’s future will depend on the path that he chooses to aid a friend.
One character’s deepest fears will confront him in dark corners of the night… and day.
One character’s path will yet be decided.

The team will be busy dealing with the simple task of surviving. But, I think that they are up to the challenge.

The High-Flying Adventures of Indigo Bolt
That’s right: “High-Flying.”
Not “hovering.”
Not “falling.”

Flying.
Just like the Nun.

As said:

: you’ll have to ditch the bolty part when you can fly though.
: ooooh.
: Something to work up to.
: I like!
: 😀
: So, flying would be like graduation from “still wet behind the ears” to full-fledged superhero.
: Exactly!
: Move your tassle to the other side, now fly.

And with that in mind…

Item	Status
Get 950 experience points	Check
Attain Security Level 14	Check
Move tassle	Check
Change name from “Bolty” to “Indigo Bolt” in title	Check
Flight	You bet your ass!

Stray Toasters

• I have pistachio nuts.
• : Click here.
• By way of Slashdot: Microsoft Infected by Virus
• Brock Peters (To Kill a Mockingbird) died this week. He portrayed Admiral Cartwright in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, as well as Joseph Sisko (Capt. Benjamin Sisko’s father) on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He was also the voice of Lucius Fox on Batman: The Animated Series.
• For (from Broken Frontier’s look at Teen Titans #27):
  

  There’s pretty much two schools of thought when it comes to Rob Liefeld– he’s the perfect example of a “love him or hate him” artist. There are people that swear by Liefeld, who love his artwork and will see this book as a chance to see him on a group of superheroes they’ve never seen him on before. Then there are the others, who point to problems with his anatomy and proportions, who will complain about his inability to draw feet, and who will point out his storytelling is sometimes suspect. If you love Liefeld, you’ll like the work he does here. If you don’t, well, don’t buy this book. The anatomy and feet drawing problems run rampant.

• Sin in Linen
  No, it’s most likely NOT what you’re thinking.
  Yes, it’s work-safe.

• : You might want to tape this Saturday morning’s episode of The Batman. A certain Mr. Grundy will be paying a visit to Gotham.
• While looking up something completely unrelated, I stumbled across a link to Wikipedia’s Green Lantern entry.
• Jennifer Walters, The Sensational She-Hulk, in Fantastic Four costume.
• For : Betty Boop maquettes
• When the rumors of an X-Men movie first came out, friends and I would come up with casting ideas for the various roles. Three of my choices would have been: Louis Gossett, Jr. as Professor X and either Iman or Angela Bassett as Storm. Given the diva-riffic attitude that a certain Ms. Berry has exhibited over the past couple of years, I think that either Mrs. Bowie (Yeah… that Bowie) or Ms. Bassett would have made an excellent Ororo Munroe.
• Gratis Gaming: 10 Real PC Games You Can Download for Free

Namaste.

Wednesday : 24 August 05
Getting out of bed wasn’t too bad this morning.
The desire to get back into bed… that’s a different story.

Work wasn’t too bad; I had enough to keep me occupied and moving for most of the day. Tomorrow should be about the same. I went to lunch with this afternoon. While eating, I looked up and there was one of the honchos from work; he was having lunch with his family. Back to the office for a few hours and then the workday was one for the history books.

I did a little yardwork this evening. And by “yardwork,” I really mean “I got out the weed trimmer and edged up the fencelines and parking strip.” Fun with electric trimmers. It didn’t take long at all.

The Amazing Adventures of Bolty: Novice Superhero at Large
1200 points of XP debt to burn.
4000 points away from Security Level 14.
Guess who went to Paragon City to go to work like Kool Moe Dee.
Mm-hmm. That’s right!

I joined a then-three-member team and we patrolled Steel Canyon. Thugs? Outcast? Council? It didn’t matter. We were there. Swift. Merciless. Relentless. We got the J.O.B. done like Big Daddy Kane – ’cause it wasn’t nothin’ but work.

Who didn’t die and rack up any new XP debt?
Who is now exactly 950 points from Level 14… and Flight?
Bolt!
Ya damn right!

They say that Indigo Bolt is one baaad mother….
   Shut yo’ mouth!
I’m just talking’ about Bolt…
   We can dig it!

Stray Toasters

• I had Sloppy Joes for dinner. And you didn’t.
• One of my coworkers forwarded this Powerpoint presentation of pictures from NASA’s most recent Space Shuttle mission.
• St. Augustine
• I’ve been a cartoon and comic book fan for years. Many, many years. On my last trip to The Bookshelf, I picked up a few issues of Green Lantern from the mid-80s and Green Lantern: Mosaic early 90s. The stories featured John Stewart. Go figure. His origins in the comics are a little different from the one depicted on Justice League Unlimited, but he’s still the same no-nonsense guy underneath the uniform.
• Chicken-fish! (for )
• …speaking of whom: She passed along a link to a “complete list and bio of all muppet characters on the muppet show – ever.”
• I am still sore from Tuesday’s workout.

Quote of the Day
Tuesday, I neglected to set my messaging accounts to “Away,” when I headed to work. noticed and the following exchange was the result:

(10:24:13) : hmm. you cloned yourself again, didn’t you?
(10:27:29) : Something like that. 🙂
(10:53:38) : Better? (after setting the home account to “Away”)
(10:53:46) : OMFG you killed your clone!
(10:54:14) : I didn’t kill him.
(10:54:18) : He’s…. sleeping.
(10:54:22) : Yes, that’s it.
(10:54:24) : Sleeping.
(10:55:10) : i don’t think his neck is supposed to be twisted like that.

Namaste.

Tuesday : 23 August 05
The day was a good one. Of course, any day that starts with almost-free mocha goodness can’t be all bad.

There was work. Then the gym at lunchtime. I saw Cecilie – whom I helped move up here a couple of weeks ago. It was her first time to that Gold’s, so she was getting her bearings. Then, it was back to work.

After the workday grind was over, I came home, changed and headed to ‘s to figure out why her sound card wasn’t working. A few minutes later, the problem had been corrected and there was rejoicing. I came back home for dinner and relaxing.

The Action-Packed Adventures of Bolty: Novice Superhero at Large
After dinner, I thought that I’d save my little corner of the world. I’m getting closer to Security Level 14… but, I also seem to be a “trouble magnet.” I was running to a zone entrance when a couple of Clockwork decided to test my mettle. I obliged them. One dropped without too much ado. Then the other one dropped me. *sigh* Add a few hundred more points to my XP debt total. (Monkey-squeezin’, shit-assed son of an alarm clock!) Fortunately, I had an “Awaken” on me, which I hastily used… and sent his rusty ass to the scrap heap. I took on another mission – and didn’t die – before deciding that I’d had enough patrolling.

Stray Toasters

• I just realized, when I started writing this post, that I’ve been writing “22 Aug 05” on things today. I didn’t put it on anything of major significance, fortunately, but I find it amusing.
• By way of : George Bush’ speechwriter
• he finds a streetlight
  and he steps out of the shade
  and says something like
  “you and me, babe, how about it?”
     “Romeo and Juliet”
  Mark Knopfler wrote it – the song, that is; I know that Mr. Shakespeare wrote the play – but I like The Indigo Girls’ version a bit more. To me, it’s rare that a cover can outshine the original of a song, but this time… it did. I think the same way about Since I Fell for You: Lenny Welch crooned it and it was good…. but Al Jarreau gave it soul and made it fly.

• Reason #46935 of “Why Makes Me Laugh” – We were chatting on IRC when he posted a link to this story and then followed it up with this:
  

  [19:58] : the best part “School officials are not sure what has caused so many pregnancies, but…”

• I finally got the LEGO® Dacta Set – the one that Kate and Perry bought me a few months ago – to work. Apparently, the battery terminals on the power unit had some residual corrosion… which kept current from flowing through the unit. Armed with a little Coca-Cola and a steel wool pad, I got it working. And then I took the set to work – for those days when I need a decent distraction.
• For :
  

  Wo, I chumba run,
  Wo, I chumba run,
  Wo, I chumba run,
  Ne hamma, Ne hamma, Ne hamma chi chen.

• By way of Real Tech News: Warning! Don’t update your PSP to 2.0!
• This I Believe – “A Balance Between Nature and Nurture” by Gloria Steinem
• Would this be The Night-Bunny Before Christmas? –
• “Bluetooth Cave Paintings”
  

Namaste.

Monday : 22 August 05

<< REWIND <<
I neglected to mention a couple of things from yesterday’s outing.

While at Barnes & Noble, I discovered a Magnetic Poetry kiosk. With tiles on the sides. Apparently, they didn’t know how dangerous it was to give me things like that to play with. I decided to show them the error of their ways:

From there, we wandered around and discovered the store’s greeting card section. I found a few things there that amused me, as well:

• Card 1
• Card 2
• Card 3: (front, inside)
• Card 4: (front, middle, end)

> PLAY >
It was a short workday for a couple of reasons:

1. I slept in later than I had planned.
2. I had to leave early so that I could meet during her stopover.

So I worked. And did stuff. And whatnot. Then, I left.

I met at SLIA. Once again, I have to say that the design of the airport is good for keeping the ticketed passengers happy, but is ass-tastic for people who want to visit with family and friends before they take off for points unknown. had to come out of the terminal area and up to the baggage claim/ticketing area. We sat and chatted for about 40 minutes before she had to leave to catch her plane. We saw plenty of people dressed in outfits that almost begged for Clitorati-worthy cattiness (1, 2).

And then… I saw it. It has to be another sign of the Apocalypse. That’s the only explanation. It was, literally, a sign:

Okay, in and of itself, that wasn’t so bad. But, what was under the sign… that was truly an indication that the end of life as we know it is nigh upon us:That’s right: A vending machine. FOR PIZZA! Ms. was kind enough to stand next to it so that I didn’t think that I had hallucinated it during some fever dream. I don’t even want to consider how they keep the “pizza” nominally fresh.

I came home and had a little down time. It was nice. I think that I even nodded off for a bit. Then… I saved the world. Or a small, virtual portion of it, at least. A little later, it was off to do some shopping – I needed some new gym shorts. Found ’em at Target. And the price made me happy. So, I bought three pair.

Stray Toasters

• I have fresh, homemade brownies. And milk!
• By way of boingboing.net: Starlets in chadors
• Butterfly knife demonstrations
• For the record: It’s spelled “lightning,” not “lightening.”
• Also from boingboing: Pledge to poison a registration database this November 13!
• “One of the two of us is on drugs, and until this moment, I was pretty sure it was you.”
  “I’m still pretty sure it’s me, man.”
  

• : Palisades’ Alien Queen Signature Statue Ships to Retail
• From Real Tech News: It’s True – Looking at Porn Makes You Go Blind
• Quiz: Is Your Boss a Psychopath?
• 

Namaste.

Sunday : 21 August 05
What constitutes a “good day?”

• Enjoying a nearly-twenty mile long bike ride?
• Spending the day in the company of good friends?
• Having no schedule, to speak of, and just going where you choose?
• Talking with family members?
• Resuming a project that has lain dormant for far too long?
• Saving the world?

If those are the conditions, then today was an excellent day.

I got up and hit the bike trail. I did the south end of the Jordan River Parkway. When the trail ended at 85th South, I did some road riding down to 100th South. The weather was great for it. The bike, after its first tune-up, felt good. Although, I still seem to have some rubbing between the front disc (brake) and the caliper… And, I rode up all of the hills on the way home. Without stopping (other than for lights)

After I got back and made myself presentable to the world at large, , and I made our way to Cocoa Caffè for lunch. While we were there – and completely old, an older gentlemen approached us and did a couple of sleight of hand tricks involving coins. And when he was done… he simply went back to his table. We waved “good-bye” to him when we left.

From there, we meandered back and forth across the valley, eventually we wound up here at the house. While we were sitting around, we decided to take on the next step in the living room project: Removing the trim (wainscot and baseboard). We did. And… AND… I got to use the Sawz-All tonight! *BLISS* If I get to choose the form of my vorpal blade, it will be in the shape of a Sawz-All… and it shall go snicker-snack!

The Never-Ending Adventures of Bolty: Novice Superhero at Large
It’s been a week since I changed my uniform to something less… Disco-era 70s.

It’s also about time that my icon reflect that change.

has given way to
After all, even Dazzler gave up the roller skates and bad makeup.

and I took on the seedy elements of Paragon City’s underworld tonight. We attempted one of his missions… and had our asses summarily handed to us. Repeatedly. Helloooooo, experience debt NURSE! No matter. It just means that we’ll have to gather a band of heroes around us and take on the challenge once more.

And with that, I close.

Namaste.

Saturday : 20 August 05
After getting into bed far later than I had planned, morning came far too soon. And I didn’t even get to sleep in as “late” as I had hoped, thanks to what I can only assume was the swamp cooler. Twenty minutes…. twenty minutes… before the alarm was to go off, “something” started squeaking and squealing. *sigh* I was about this close to blaming it on the cats. But I didn’t. This time.

I got out of bed and (SLOWLY) got moving and making myself semi-presentable. Perry and Max showed up a little after 9:00, so that we could head to Mecca (commonly referred to as “The Bookshelf”). After a trip to the local Beans & Brews – it’s nice to be able to walk into a place and not have to order your drink – and a sidetrip back to Perry’s, we hit the road.

The excursion was fruitful. Oh, so very fruitful. I picked up some back issues (mid 80s and early 90s) of Green Lantern comic books, featuring John Stewart. Of course. I also picked up a copy of Phil Foglio’s Girl Genius: The Secret Blueprints for Volume One. And plastic crack. Many pieces of plastic crack:

• Cloak and Dagger (rookie and experienced, respectively)
• Dmitri Pushkin (unique) – Rocket Red #7 from Justice League International
• Easy Company Trooper (rookie) for use in Nox’ Call of Chthulu game.
• Firestar (veteran)¹
• Tigra (experienced)
• Wolverine (experienced) – feral with bone claws
• …and eight (8) figures of Alpha Flight’s Puck – to be used a pawns on my chess board

I was rather pleased with the haul. From there, we headed to the End Zone’s store in Clearfield. It was a nice shop; bigger than the one in Trolley Square. Naturally, I fed the addiction a little more. The highlights from this stop include:

• Arclight (experienced)
• Brainiac 13 (rookie)
• Batman (unique) – the vampire Batman from Red Rain, I think.
• Deadshot (rookie)
• Elektra (veteran)
• Firestorm (experienced)
• Marrow (experienced)
• Maxima (experienced)
• …and two (2) figures of Shadowcat (experienced)

Two Shadowcats. Hm. What ever will I do with that extra Ms. Pryde…?

We stopped for lunch on the way home and then popped into Media Play and Office Max for a bit. We left both stores empty-handed. Astonishingly.

My father called to see if I had received a package that he sent. At the time, I hadn’t; it was in the mailbox when I got home. All that he told me about it was that it had some pictures and other assorted items. I opened it… Wow. Among the items in the package were:

• The invitation that my folks sent my grandparents for my christening.
• A couple of pictures from when my ‘rents got married
• A “memory book” from my father’s senior prom
• An issue of Jet from 1965 in which my father was quoted
• My father’s college commencement programme

I think that it’s very cool to have these pieces of my past.

The Pulse-Pounding Adventures of Bolty: Novice Superhero at Large
I took a trip to Paragon City this afternoon. Of the 7400 points that I need to make Security Level 14, I put a 1400 point dent in it. That’s good. I got a little sloppy towards the end of my playing, though. I wasn’t happy with the way that a fight went, so I decided to take it out on a couple of members of “The Council.” That was definitely NOT one of my more inspired moves. They cleaned my clock eight ways from Sunday. So, I racked up a brand-spankin’ new 800 points of experience debt. I’ll probably just exemplar with a lower-level character and burn it off.

Breakfast was a rather small affair tonight – there were five of us. One of the five, however, was Kate. I found it amusing that I hung out Perry and Max for the first part of the day and got to hang out with Kate tonight. People-watching. Catty commentary with lots of “Did you see that…?!” raised eyebrows.

And now it’s time to call it a night.

Namaste.

¹ – With this Firestar figure, I now have figures for Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends. That makes me laugh.

Friday : 19 August 05
The day was good.

Tonight’s Clitorati featured appearances by , , and . It was a veritable Cavalcade of LJers. Nyx drew on my head with… I think it was “gilding paste.” Here are the results: One and Two. After that, we headed to Cheers: North for dinner.

The Dynamic Adventures of Bolty: Novice Superhero at Large
After we got in from dinner, I took a trip to Paragon City. I had the desire… no, the need… to purge my remaining experience debt. And I did so with style. Flair. Panache.

After working off the debt, I decided to patrol a few of Paragon City’s mean streets. While roaming, I was invited to join a team. I did, with a character named “Dark Innocence.” She and I had similar (to an extent) powers. We were heading to a mission in Boomtown… when my power supply decided to go on *phbbbffffffft*.

*** braincramp ***
It took me a few moments to realize just what had happened. Fortunately, I have an extra case here; in the case was another power supply. In the time that it took me to change the power supplies, however, Dark Innocence was gone. (I just reread that last sentence… talk about your “unintentional innuendo.” Wow.) So, I headed back to Atlas Park and logged out for the night.

Stray Toasters

• After work, I picked up this week’s comics and a box of plastic crack. For the second week in a row, I’ve found something in a Marvel Ultimate Universe annual that has caught me off-guard (in a good way). This week’s Annual: Amazing Spider-Man, featuring…. wait. I can’t say that. It would give away the gist of the story. You’ll have to go pick it up and see for yourself.
• Thanks, again, to for picking up my bike from soccer practice… Cub Scouts… REI and bringing it home. I’m feeling the urge to take a Sunday morning ride…

I had a few other things to add, but I am winding down quickly. And so, “Good morning.”

Namaste.