Random Access

Sunday – 15 July 2018
Man, it’s already after 9:00 and I am sitting here wondering where the weekend went. There’s just one “problem.”

I know exactly where.

Friday, after work, I left work a little later than planned, made a quick stop at a local toy store (again, surprising absolutely NO ONE), met Sara and Team DiVa for dinner, and headed off to Clitorati. After that was all buttoned-up, back home for some Overwatch with friends.

Saturday morning, I did not want to get out of bed… which might have had something to do with staying up late. Maybe. But, I got up, ate and went to work out while DiVa had swim class. For some, as yet unknown reason, I decided to throw squats into the mix. For the record: NOT MY FAVORITE. (Put a pin in this, we’ll be coming back to it shortly.) Back home to shower and change and head off to Dr. Volt’s to judge a tournament. I was pleased; it went well.

Back home to knock out a couple of things and get ready for an evening out with Sara – we finally got around to celebrating promotions that we got back in the Spring. We dropped the ladies off with their grand-parents for the evening and headed downtown. We had dinner and dessert at Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar; it had been far too long since we had been there. As usual, the food and service were both excellent.

Next, we decided to check out Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. Yeah, yeah… not exactly Oscar fare, but we kind of knew what we were getting into. Kind of. Our best summation was that it wasn’t the best movie we’d ever seen – and it was far from the worst – but we were entertained. C’mon… it’s got dinosaurs, for Pete’s sake! Yeah, you know what I’m talkin’ about. Back home and we both crashed pretty hard.

This morning, I woke up tired. Remember that pin from earlier? Here’s where it makes its reprise: Somewhere in the middle of an already not-great sleep (a series of unpleasant dreams kept waking me up), I encountered “The Revenge of the Squats” – my thighs delighted in making turning over and even lying still “somewhat unpleasant.”

Ibuprofen, my old friend…
I’ve come to be with you again…

We headed back to the in-laws’ for breakfast. Oh… and to pick up the girls. My father-in-law makes a mean waffle. And he makes LOTS of them. Sara’s local sibs and their families were there for breakfast, too. It was a good way to start a busy day.

It was a “busy day” as today was (“is,” still… technically) National Ice Cream Day, which means Sara and I put on our annual Ice Cream Social.

Please note: It was, apparently “The Twins’ Ice Cream Party” Fine. Next year, they get to foot the bill and do the heavy lifting.

That meant a lot of “spending the rest of the morning and afternoon getting ready.” Thus, we did. One thing that we didn’t fully account for were the number of unexpected guests, in the forms of bees and wasps.

Fortunately, there were no cross-species incidents, for which I was supremely grateful. There was ice cream, toppings, pink lemonade, good company and conversation.

After our guests left, there was a little bit of clean up – we pretty much have set up and teardown down to a science after… six or seven years of doing this – and then time to get ready for dinner. I somehow managed to convince Team DiVa that it would be a “good idea” to take their showers while dinner was getting ready. Not quite sure “how,” but I wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. We ate dinner – salads (light post-ice cream fare = WIN) with chicken. And lemonade. Duh.

Sometime during the post-dinner “What do we do now” period, I stretched out on the couch. My mistake. I fell asleep for almost an hour. That might not have been such a mistake, after all. I woke up in time to find Sara and the girls watching the tail-end of a two-part Sofia the First episode… with mermaids. Yes, I just made that pun and decided not to edit it out. When the episode was over, the girls got ready for bed. Once they were tucked in, it was time for a greatly sought-after cool summer shower. It was sublime, just in case you wondered.

Now, I still have a little bit of free time before I have to make my way to The Dreaming. I should probably figure out what to do with said time…

Saturday – 30 June 2018

Today was a “Divide and Conquer” kind of day. Sara took Team DiVa to their swim class, while I represented the family at Salt Lake’s “Families Belong Together” rally.

I got there a too late to march with the other event-goers, but I was there. It would be good if our elected officials actually listened to – and acted upon – Vox Populi, and not just to the talking heads of their respective parties.

That brings up a side note: I’ve recently noticed a fair number of posts going around that say something to the effect of “Neither religion nor politics have ever been a reason to turn my back on a friend.” Isn’t part of the reason that we choose people to be in our circles because they not only share some of our views and perspectives… but also because the have differing ones, as well? What happened to the ability to “agree to disagree?” Or even the seemingly simple ability to have discourse without it devolving into arguments or outrage?

It seems to me
As well make our own few circles ’round the block
We’ve lost our senses
For the higher-level static of talk
“Dog Years,” by Rush (from the album Test For Echo)

After that, I headed to Koko Kitchen to pick up some lunch. I love that place and don’t get there nearly often enough. Back in the car and on to Watchtower Cafe to pick up some liquid motivation. I chatted with Tui a bit about next week’s Salt Lake Gaming Con (Are you going?!) and some of the goings-on there. I’m looking forward to attending.

Back in the driver’s seat and (finally) headed home. Sara and the girls were working on an assemble-and-paint model of the solar system. When they’d finished, Diana and I talked about the planets and their orbits… which turned into us asking our Echo about the orbital periods (new phrase for D) of the various planets.

We all enjoyed some downtime and then headed to one of the local libraries and parks. I was thwarted in my attempt to acquire delicious confections from C. Kay Cummings (Curses, foiled again!), as they closed about 20 minutes before we got there. *shakes fist* I poked my head into Dr. Volt’s Comic Connection, but decided that I didn’t need anything today. From there, it was off to dinner.

Post-dinner, I “needed” to stop at one of the local Michael’s. I picked up some props and accessories for Action Figure Theatre. (What?! I put “needed” in quotes. Get off my case!) It’s fun when I go to an arts and crafts store and go to check out with miniatures, because I often get an odd look, raised eyebrow, or even a direct “What are you making with these?” When I explain how they will be put to use, the quizzical expressions usually turn into wide, surprised smiles or laughter. Totally worth it.

One of the books I picked up at the library was a “How to Draw Animals” book for the girls. V picked it up first, but D was the first one to actually put it to use. In the half-ish hour she had before bed for free time, she busted out nine or ten pictures. And, they were good. Really good, especially for first shots. V, not to be outdone, drew a quick picture right before bedtime, which was also very good.

Later? Who knows….? Possibly a movie. Possibly some Overwatch or some other game.

Stray Toasters

• Today’s rally reminded me of something my father gave me years ago. And gave me an idea. We’ll see where this goes.
• I listened to a lot of Prince yesterday. I regret nothing.
• Bruce Banner could have used one of these: The Belt That Protects Against Gamma Radiation
• Tin Machine
• Salt Lake City’s fireworks laws have been recently updated/amended. There’s a period of a few days around July Fourth and Pioneer Day that are designated as legal to shoot off fireworks. Someone needs to tell the people a couple streets over.  *grblsnrkx*
• I didn’t realize how anxious and excited I am for City of Titans to (finally) drop until talking with a friend about some of my old City of Heroes and City of Villains characters last night.

.eof

Tuesday – 26 June 2018
I’m at home today with a pair of young ladies who are getting over fevers. They just finished lunch and are hanging out in the living room. So, I’m going to jot down a few things, while it’s quiet – and, more importantly, while I’m not being summoned.

Three weeks ago, we went to Boise for Sara’s grandmother’s funeral.

I didn’t meet her until she was in her mid-80s; even then, she was more active that some 20-somethings I knew. That didn’t stop over the time that I knew her, either. (For example, she didn’t stop driving until two years ago, and then only because her eyesight had deteriorated to the point of making it… “somewhat untenable.”) Just listening to some of the rather amazing adventures she undertook was enough to make one tired.

It was a somber occasion, but it was good to see members of Sara’s side of the family with whom we don’t often get to visit. Added bonuses: Getting to spend time with friends in the Boise area whom we don’t get to see that often, as well.

We also took the opportunity to make another stop at Shoshone Falls on the way home.

Two weeks ago, I got to spend an evening with my Godmother, whom I haven’t seen since before I moved out here. She and her husband were visiting Utah for the first time and they spent a week traipsing around central and southern Utah. The occasion also marked the first time they met Sara and the girls. It was fantastic seeing them and catching up on things.

Otherwise, the past couple of weeks have been pretty quiet and uneventful.

Stray Toasters

• ‘At Least During the Internment…’ Are Words I Thought I’d Never Utter
• By way of Seth MacFarlane: The Captain’s Speech, from ST: TNG – “The Drumhead”
• Looking for some podcasts? Check these out:
  • The Incredibly Vocal Minority from Jay Whittaker
  • The SLC Sitdown from Cat Umano and Kiki Furia
  • Geek Parenting Podcast
• With Top Gun getting a sequel, rewatching Firefox popped into mind. I wonder if it’s held up well – or at all – over the past thirty-something years…

I fed the ladies, I should probably find something for me to eat, too… while it’s still (relatively) quiet.

Yeah… that’s about to happen. Right. Now.

Monday – 28 May 2018
Today is Memorial Day.

Memorial Day is an American holiday, observed on the last Monday of May, honoring the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. Originally known as Decoration Day, it originated in the years following the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in 1971. – History.com

Stray Toasters

• To My Daugthter…
• Martin Luther King, Jr. speaks with NBC News 11 months before his assassination
  
• Some NFL Players Consider Sitting Out Season Until Kaepernick, Reid Sign
• Rail Cars Available for Charter
• The Story of the DuckTales Theme, History’s Catchiest Single Minute of Music
• Miles Morales Is Being Handled by Black Creators – Finally

.eof

Friday – 25 May 2018

I am ready for the long weekend. ‘Nuff said.

Stray Toasters

• From our Mother’s Day Southern Utah Parks Tour:

  • 

    Diana (Arches National Park)

    

    Vanessa (Arches National Park)

    
    

    

    Sara and Team DiVa (Goblin Valley State Park)

    

    Goblin Valley State Park

    
    
• Ostracised and Fetishised: The Perils of Travelling as a Young Black Woman
• The NFL continues to be a mess. I’m going to wind up not watching this season, either, at this rate.
  • This saddens me for many reasons, not the least of which is the complete missteps that have been taken with respect to players’ rights to silently protest and the League’s response. But also, Torrey Smith, former Raven has been traded to the Carolina Panthers, meaning that I have a reason to watch him play again.
• Black sergeant was ‘loyal klansman’
• I saw Solo: A Star Wars Movie a few nights ago. I liked it. I should get around to reviewing it and Avengers: Infinity War one of these days…
• The Sky Was No Limit: The WASP Women Pilots of WWII
• A couple weeks ago, I had a couple of odd things reach a weird personal convergence:
  • I learned that a coworker spent part of his mission in my mother’s hometown. Yeah, a small town in West Virginia that few have heard of and fewer still have been to. He spent six months there.
  • Later that same day, Sara and I watched Logan Lucky. Turns out that part of the movie was also set “somewhere” in West Virginia.
• This is how the federal government made a Star Wars tweet go viral
  • Hat tip to my friend Denise for this amusing look at life above the 54′-40º.

Tuesday – 01 May 2018
I’ve been lax about getting to the gym regularly lately. I’ve trying to nudge myself to do *something*, at least – walking more, eating (a little) more healthily, and… going to the gym at least once a week (while the girls are at swim class) or at least doing enough work around the house and yard to get my heart rate up and burn some extra calories.

I took another step a little earlier. Well, spin, actually. For far too long, I’ve been toying with getting my bike back on the trainer and making productive use of my TV time.

Tonight, did that tonight and spent a hair over half an hour on the bike while watching part of a show.

And it felt good.

Here’s to making this a more regular thing.

#carveawaythestone #alwaysforward

Saturday- 24 February 2018

I’ve been (somewhat) trying to write a post for a month now. Seriously. There have been fits and starts, but no finished product… until now. It’s strange to think that this is my first blog post (on here, at least) this year. But, here it is.

Today has been a good day. It snowed last night. It’s as if Mother Nature finally decided to remind people that “Yes, this is still Winter and I still have a few tricks up my sleeve,” and do it all in one week:

Oh, y’all wanted to call me out for not giving you any snow this winter?

BLAOW!

How ya like me now?

Said snow contributed to our decision to not venture out to Team DiVa’s swim class and, thus, gave all of us some prime sleeping-in time. Selah.

Next up: Ballet class for the ladies. Sara and I had supplemental breakfast and coffee while the girls were in class. From there, we headed down to Draper to catch an encore presentation of Mary and the Witches’ Flower. We’d wanted to see this a month ago, but it sold out rather quickly. Eagle-eyed Sara saw something a couple of weeks ago which noted another showing; we decided to make a family movie adventure out of it. The movie was quite cute and had a couple of take-away lessons. Even more importantly: Team DiVa liked it.

Next, back home for a hot minute so I could get my car and head off to record “a very special episode…” of Geekshow Podcast with Jay Whitaker (1, 2), Kiki Furia, Kari Keone, Dr. Paul White, and Stephan Watson, with Kerry Jackson as our host and moderator. The episode was about Black Panther and will be out Monday. NOTE: It’s heavily spoiler-laden and not exactly safe for work. You have been warned.

Now, I just need to finish this morning’s greatly-belated Instagram #morningcoffee post and all will be well with the world.

Stray Toasters

• An Artist Reversed The Gender Roles In Sexist Vintage Ads To Point Out How Absurd They Really Are
• Deep Space Nine Is TV’s Most Revolutionary Depiction of Black Fatherhood
• Illustrated Periodic Table
• Round like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel
  Never ending or beginning on an ever-spinning reel
  Like a snowball down a mountain, or a carnival balloon
  Like a carousel that’s turning running rings around the moon
  Like a clock whose hands are sweeping past the minutes on its face
  And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space
  Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind
• Budgeting Doesn’t Have to Suck
• 21 Murphy’s Laws of Combat That Could Save Lives
• After 56 years apart, they rediscovered a love they thought was lost forever – The man in this article is my uncle (my step-father’s brother); I wasn’t able to make it home for the wedding, but this is a lovely story.
• The Tiahrt Amendment

Out.

Sunday – 31 December 2017
Tonight is the last night of 2017. This has been an… interesting… year. Full of highs, lows, and many changes.

That said, tomorrow brings with it the promise of not only a new day, but also a new year. It also brings new hope and new beginnings.

I hope that 2018 brings you happiness, prosperity, and all that you hope for.

Happy New Year.

Monday – 25 December 2017

Christmas 2017

Merry Christmas from our family to yours. May your holiday season – no matter what holiday you celebrate – be joyous, safe, and spent in the company of family and friends you hold dear. Best wishes to you for the new year.

Sunday – 24 December 2017
Last night, my gaming group got together for another Shadowrun session. It was a little touch-and-go as to whether or not the game would actually happen earlier in the day, but it did.

Game night!

I quite enjoy my group and running games for them. Most of my players are (relatively) new to the world of Shadowrun, while others have experience from the computer/console games. Watching them come together to experience the pen-and-paper world of the late 21st Century has been fun and occasionally highly entertaining. Case in point…

In our last session, the group had been contacted to find a missing person. And, as they were leaving the meeting, they were contacted by another agent to do a semi-related job, finding an item that the missing person was investigating. Serendipity AND more money. They followed some leads to the person’s last known location: A room in a fairly upscale hotel. They didn’t find the person, but another set of clues that led to a location in underground Seattle.

That’s where tonight’s game picked up. They walked into the location (see map)…

(c) Catalyst Lab Games

…and right into the middle of a gang war. Literally into the middle of it. So, they did what any intelligent adventuring party would do: Dove into the nearest cover – the ladies’ restroom. Or, rather, they tried. Two players had… issues: One stumbled and slammed into a wall, making her a target for getting shot. (Hooray for armored clothing!); the other… just… fell and almost got his head caved in by an exuberant – but very clumsy – ganger.

Members of the party, leaning out of the women’s room doorway, open fire on Gang #1 (on the right, near/around #1 on the map; Gang 2 was on the left, near the big red arrow)… just as the first wave of cops is hitting the top of the steps to the underground. Shots are exchanged to little effect. The team’s mage decided to cast a wicked stun spell on a massive radius, centered on the nearby gang. And she was SERIOUSLY successful. Five of the seven nearby gangers dropped. So did some tourists. Go figure. Then things got ridiculous:

• Stumblebunny finally makes it into the restroom.
• NEXT ROUND: More shots fired.
  • Decker (computer hacker) decides to hack the optics of the last two nearby gang members.
    With goatse. (DO NOT LOOK THAT UP)
    • He was successful and, not surprisingly, they stopped shooting, just as…
  • The cops arrive at the top of the stairs to the underground level.
  • Mage’s turn: She casts a spell on one of nearby gang duo, making him think that he’s COVERED in insects, even inside his clothes.
    • Again: Raging success. So… he starts stripping.
• NEXT ROUND: The cops hit the level where the fighting was going on.
  • So, a couple cops are like “WTF?! Why is he getting naked?!”
  • Three cops decide to head down the corridor and confront the other gang, who are still shooting. Because…  gang.
• NEXT ROUND: Mage decides to cast another spell. “Swarm,” making the cops coming down the escalator think that they are in the middle of a swarm of bees.
  • Again, wickedly successful – it hits most of the cops on the escalator.
    • They lost their shit…
    • …for about 5 seconds, until the cops’ combat mage dispelled it.
  • As the three cops head down the hall to the left (towards Gang #2), one of the party flips a flash-bang out the bathroom at them… as the mage is celebrating her success, like this:
    
    (click image)
    For clarity’s sake, I asked if that’s what her character was really doing. She said “Yes.”
  • Flash-bang goes off.
  • Cops – in helmets and riot gear – shrug it off. Two of the three cops head down to face Gang #2, Cop 3 throws a flash-bang into the bathroom.
  • I just looked at the group and told them, “I don’t even need to roll this. Everything goes black. For all of you.” For a moment, they thought I killed them.
• Eventually (20-30 minutes later), they all come to, surrounded by 20+ not-so-happy cops.
• …when a 3m tall troll (cop) walks up. The team’s negotiator decides to go kind of hard-ass, while the Infiltrator (stealth guy/think “rogue”) is basically, “Yep, we’re shadowrunners,” when the troll cop asks what they’re doing there.
  • The cop-mage was also casting “read thoughts’ and “detect truth” when the troll cop was asking questions.  He kept saying that the negotiator was telling “mostly truths, but there’s some… grey… in there.’
  • Wasn’t making troll cop overly happy.

The best part of the troll cop asking questions sequence was the out-of-character conversations going on around the table, because half the party was ready to throw the mage under the bus for casting the swarm spell on the cops. To be fair, in the first adventure we ran, the mage tried to use her stun spell to stop a magical creature from escaping a zoo enclosure. She put two of her teammates to sleep instead. There may be some lingering resentment about that. Oops.

As I said above: I enjoy my gaming group.

Sunday – 01 October 2017
And, so, we come to Birthday Month…

So far, it’s been pretty good. Chilly, but good. Of course, any month that starts off with sleeping in can’t be all bad.

Today was a low-key, mostly spent-at-home kind of day. After the hullaballoo of last week, it wasn’t a terrible change of pace. Of course, being at home meant that (some) chores had to be tackled. Some were. The world didn’t stop spinning. This afternoon, Team DiVa and I jetted off to the mall for an errand (for me) and some walking around looking at things time (for the three of us) and a little play time at The LEGO Store (for them… mostly). All missions were accomplished nicely. The evening has been pretty quiet. I consider that a good way to end the day and start the week.

Stray Toasters

• Earlier, I posted my first-ever submission for Inktober. I haven’t really drawn anything in months and haven’t seriously drawn anything in years. This should be fun.
• Last night, we had our final session of the Shadowrun adventure my group’s been playing. The whole team survived; that’s a good thing. (For them.) I’d been co-GMing our group with my friend, Josh. He’s bowing out of running things and it seems that I’m going to be GMing the whole shebang from here on out. May the deity of my players’ choices have mercy on their souls…
• I completely spaced off a few things in my recap of Salt Lake Comic Con ’17:
  • I got to meet Michael Stackpole and have him autograph a book I’ve had for many years.
  • I also met Yale Stewart, writer and author of JL8, a webcomic based on the Justice League… as grade-schoolers.
• I know it’s probably going to get nerfed, but I love what the latest Overwatch update has done for Mercy (my main).
• Two or so months ago, I discovered a new-to-me webcomic: Star Power. I’ve quite enjoyed it.
• I’m still rather amused by how Team DiVa has taken to DuckTales – both the old and new series.
  • I think that we’re only a few episodes away from seeing my favorite Duckberg denizen: GizmoDuck!

Okay, time for  a snack and a little gaming before bed.

Namaste.

Monday – 18 September 2017
In alignment with my rationale for #NBNThursday, today has most definitely been “a Monday.” That’s okay, this too shall pass. OK Go said so.

See? Told ya so.

Today started far too early. 5:15 AM early. I was in the office at 6:15. Much respect to those of you who are up, out, and making the doughnuts that early every day. The reason for such an early start was to handle last-minute prep for a week of meetings. In itself, that’s not so bad. It became “not-so-great” on Friday evening when – long after the day had been “done” – I was notified that said meetings were going to start at 10 AM, rather than the 2 PM we had originally been told. In short, our timeline for handling things just had four hours lopped off the top. As there was nothing to be done about it, I simply replied with “We can only do what we can do.” And then, I proceeded to enjoy my weekend.

“Enjoying my weekend” included, but was not limited to:

• Judging a game tournament.
• Watching the new DuckTales cartoon (and Star Wars: Rebels and Care Bears) with Team DiVa.
• Going to the State Fair
• Playing too few video games.

Fast forward (or would it be “rewind,” in this case) to this morning. We got the prep work out of the way for the influx of meeting participants with time to spare. Yes, there were a couple of glitches, but on the whole, we were done and life was good.

A few minutes after the presenters got started setting up for the day, we were informed that they were changing the configuration of one of the meeting rooms. Okay, fine. Whatever. Then we were informed “why” they were doing it: In the original configuration, only one of the projectors in that room was activated. That was news to me, but it didn’t preclude them from making the room work. As this news was being relayed, a coworker started laughing to himself. Naturally, I asked why. He proceeded to tell us that he knew of this idiosyncrasy.

I’ll pause here to note that he was here last week when we were setting up the room, but said nothing about it.

::: braincramp :::

Mischief managed. And external ire restrained.

The morning wore in afternoon with out much further ado. Thankfully.

And then, I saw this article: Toys ‘R’ Us could file for bankruptcy this week.

I was struck with a sense of nostalgic sadness. One of the first things that went through my mind upon reading the article was the childhood glee of trips to the TRU in Catonsville with either my mother or father. We may not have gone weekly , but there were definitely a lot of trips there. For me, those were the days of The Adventure People, Micronauts, and electric trains (mostly Tyco, when you could buy a decent train set – or just pieces – at your local toy purveyor). I remember asking my father to drive down “the roller coaster road,” a hilly back road ending at the Toys ‘R’ Us parking lot, which – if you went just fast enough – would send rollercoaster-like butterflies into the pit of your stomach. I remember wandering the aisles of the store, while my mother shopped at a clothing store next door. Hell, I still remember the 1970s commercial jingle – the long version.

Roughly a year ago, there were three (3) TRU locations in the Salt Lake Valley. One closed last November, the other closed a few months ago. The lone remaining store is down the street from my house. Yes, I still go there, but it’s not just for me, these days. Over the past couple of years, I’ve noticed the quantity of some toy lines diminishing, while others have… not-exactly “flourished,” but at least survived. But it hasn’t felt like the same store that I used to visit as a kid for a long time. I’m sure that a fair portion of that is attributable to having gotten older.

There was no mention plans for the chain to close in the article, but like so many things, perhaps its time is nearing an end.

My inner kid still hopes that’s a long way off, though.

…

Still nothing to see here…

Nothing to see here…