Merry Holidamaswanzaule (and an update)

So this is my obligatory "Holidays" post and update on me. I'm sorry as I didn't mean to wait so long after I got out of the hospital (Thanksgiving day, in case you're curious).

Banged Up

Ladies and Gentlemen: I write this from a hospital bed at Banner Desert Medical Center. Well, let me rewind to the start.

Monday before last (14th), as I was walking up stairs to go to my biology class. I don't make it past the first landing on these stairs before I made one of my own. One step NAILED me in the right knee. Oh you bet it fucking hurt. Oh and you bet it left a mark.

So over the next week I dealt with the swelling... and bruising... yeah you might see where this is going. To keep this short: Monday the 21st I went to Urgent Care since the bruising had spread, there was still swelling. Well, there was also reddening of my shin. The doctor on staff and I both realized that while I hadn't broken my leg (X-Rays taken... I even have a copy on a CD) but I had developed cellulitis. Just click the link, then come back. Yeah, it's very serious thing to have.

My ass was in ER, at Banner Desert, shortly thereafter. I've been here since. I had surgery this past afternoon to drain a pocket of blood drained that was right below the injury, probably causing a lack of circulation that caused the cellulitis.

 I'll keep my blog updated as right now having moved back in August/Early September I'm all alone in my room. My laptop, and guest wifi, are keeping my sanity.

I'm not dead I swear!!!

You ever get busy with work/homework/a project and leave another little project you have to the back burner? One that's always in the background anyways?

Yeah, this blog became that after I moved and went to school. Sorry about that. To note I've also really not been feeling well. I'd explain but it's more of a mental thing that I just realized was happening and I've had to wrangle my brain back into place this past week. All said and done I'm looking to pick up writing here and there from now on.

Game Jam and Toast

So I've been busy with adjusting to school, my school workload, and other things that I may or may not enumerate later.

Right now I'm waist deep in a Noob Game Jam:

Google Image Search for Game Jam. Sounds yummy!

So what is this, really? Basically we "Jam Noobs" (ie those that have never been in a game jam) get paired up with vets in teams to make a game. In 48 hrs. With or without sleep. I took the former, though see below on what I've learned. What have I learned?

• If you want to sleep, having a RedBull at 9 PM is not a good way to do it. Falling asleep at 3 AM and getting back up at 7 AM is not a good thing.
• Open design docs, ones that all in a team can edit, are breeding grounds for scope creep. Thank the gods that I took some initiative to nail things down.
• I'm a better artist than I give myself credit for. I'll post some of my 'junk' below. 
• Also egos can run in. No, we're not doing the A-Team van.
• We are very sick, sick puppies. The group I'm apart of is doing Rundown, where we run down pedestrians and shoot at the other cars. Our special enemies include Justin Bieber, Obama, and a drunken college girl, among others. Oh and a bear that throws sharks while ridding a unicycle. Yeah the artist, my friend James, is very, erm, pleased to have to draw that by hand. Yeah

So I've got 20 hrs to go on this, wish me luck that I make it. Here's a quick dump of the art I've made so far, enjoy!

A week into school....

So far, as I've only gone through my first day of classes, I really don't have much to report. I swapped some classes last night so I could take C# programming (rather than C++ II) as I needed that for the beginning core of my classes. This means I now do a Mon-Thu for all my classes. Here's basically my schedule, and an explanation after:

• BIO: Biology
• CSC: Computer Science, here it's C# I
• PRO: Professional Studies, this one is the basic course EVERY MAJOR has to take
• COM: Communications, here it's Public Speaking
• GAM: Game related. This one is Intro into Game Design. My major takes it so we know what the designers what us programmers to do.

So, it's a light load this first semester. The juggling too place because C# too place at the same time as my original PRO102. So swapped that with one my roommate is taking, punched in C# and BAM!

I'm here, and it feels weird so far

I'm still a bit exhausted from all of this. Excited and tired, like a little kid on Christmas Eve as they fall asleep at 11:55 pm waiting for Santa. I have been running on Adrenaline and Caffeine for the past 2 days. Even now, after 12 hours of sleep I am still feeling exhausted.

I was up until 1 am cleaning my old apartment on Monday. I had used the previous Saturday with my classmate Tom and a UHAUL to move what large items I was keeping to my storage shed. The time since that night to early Monday morning was a blur.

I shall call it "My Great Purge", as I pretty sure the garbage men are pissed off with me. Assuming they came and picked it up yesterday. If they did the west side garbage bin was full. Also the garbage chute was backed up to the 2nd Floor! Sorry Mr. Garbage Man. Bring a shovel.

So even though I slept nearly 12 hours I may go back until lunch today. Which, of course, means I've become a college student overnight XD.

[Edit] oh and I had Hot Pockets for breakfast, so doubly so. Having those reminded me of this, enjoy.

Regarding Legalities: GameStop, Deus Ex, and OnLive

So unless you've been under a rather large rock for the past few days you'll notice in the gaming world a bit of a kerfuffle right now: SquareEnix released the retail version of Deux Ex: Human Revolution with a $50 coupon for OnLive, and digital games distribution network. GameStop.Was.Pissed. They took the time to open each box and remove the coupon, and are now fully removing the retail version until further notice.

Since I'm stuck daydreaming at work (Tomorrow is the last day :O ) I thought I would chime in on this. I've read enough up on it to form some (not all) solid opinions on what is going on:

Change Feels Weird

So, if you look at my countdown clock I'm nary 1 week away from my move in to Arizona. It feels... strange. Weird, exciting, scary, wonderful, awesome all rolled up into one emotion. Swirling in my head day and night now.

I'm sitting here, right now at work ( :O I'm surfing, I'M SURFING HAHAHAH), composing and email to users/coworkers/friends about my last day being next Friday with the company. It's bittersweet and I thought to immortalize it here, just for kicks ^_^ Take care all, I have a party tomorrow as a going-away thing and I'll be taking pictures.

Hello Everyone,

Throughout the past year I have re-examined my current standing in life. To pull a movie quote out here it was “measured, weighed, and found wanting”. Putting it more bluntly I was dissatisfied with where I was and decided that I had the power to change this. Thus I put into motion a plan to better myself via grand changes in my life.

That leads me to the purpose of this announcement: 8/26/11 will be my last day at <REDACTED>. Over the past 10 years I have had the pleasure of seeing this company grow robustly and astonishingly. However my future plans will not allow me to work in my current position, therefore I made the difficult decision to move on. For the curious I will be moving on in my life in leaps and bounds: I was accepted to The University of Advancing Technology, located in Tempe, Arizona, and will be pursuing my Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science with an emphasis on Video Game Programming. UAT is a fine institution and I hope to have many doors opened before me when I graduate.

It has been a pleasure to have worked with and for you in this past decade of my life. Wish me luck and longevity in this new adventure in my life.

The Countdown Has Begun!

Take a look to your right up. You'll notice something. I picked out a nice flash flip-clock to countdown my time until move-in at UAT. I got my housing info just last night. I'm so EXCITED!


And worried, and scared, and a mix of emotions I haven't felt... ever. It's weird for this old fox* to feel like this. I'm pulling myself up by my own bootstraps to move to another state, leaving behind all that I've known in my life. Though I didn't move here until I was 13, Costa Mesa IS my hometown. I'm going to miss the town I use to call "Coastal Misery" but now realize I was the one miserable.


*it would take too long to explain the choice of animals here

[Edit] Almost forgot to add in this weirdness. So a long time coworker of mine, Renee, pointed out for me that my handing of my resignation to work yesterday, August 1st, was exactly 10 years to the day I started working for my company. I didn't plan it that way, but find it fitting.

Orange County Fair 2011: Part IV: Rides

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So as not to kill everyone's browser I'm splitting these up into parts. I'll link each part here as I go along.

Part I: The Entrance

Part II: FOOD

Part III: Entertainment

Part IV: Rides (You are here)

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Ok so this is going to be the shortest of my 4 posts on the OC Fair. Mostly because, ashamed as I am to admit, and not very good for most of these rides. I'm too heavy and/or big to fit in most. The ones I can fit in squish me with speed. Oh, and there's this thing I have about heights (not nearly as bad as when I was a teen but it's still there). So I really don't go on rides.

Orange County Fair 2011: Part III: Entertainment

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So as not to kill everyone's browser I'm splitting these up into parts. I'll link each part here as I go along.
Part I: The Entrance
Part II: FOOD
Part III: Entertainment (You are here)
Part IV: Rides

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Orange County Fair 2011, Part II: FOOD

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So as not to kill everyone's browser I'm splitting these up into parts. I'll link each part here as I go along.

Part I: The Entrance 

Part II: FOOD (You are here)

Part III: Entertainment

Part IV: Rides

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Orange County Fair 2011, Part I

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So as not to kill everyone's browser I'm splitting these up into parts. I'll link each part here as I go along.

Part I: The Entrance (You are here)

Part II: FOOD

Part III: Entertainment

Part IV: Rides

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This past Friday I had the pleasure of attending the Orange County Fair. All day. No I'm not kidding I took the day off just so I could stand in line before it opened. The first hour is free, but that honestly only saves you $12. It isn't the cost savings insomuch as I just like the fair. This is my yearly pilgrimage, one I've held for the past 6 years. This, due to my move at the end of August, will be my last. At least for a while. We'll see. What follows is a photo essay of my journey.

17 years, One Square Mile

So, today I finally managed to snag an invite to the New Super Awesome Invite Only Beta Doohicky Google+. It's their answer to Facebook. (Sidenote, email me if you want an invite ~_^).

Casey Anthony Acquittal: Why this isn't OJ Simpson round 2

So, in case you live under a rock or something you've heard of Casey Anthony. She was on trial, until 3 hours ago, for the murder of her 2-year-old daughter Caylee, last seen a little over 3 years ago. I don't want to go into specifics just yet but suffice to say most of us believe she is guilty of the crime.

Listening and Small Groups

Right now part of my time, and part of the reason why I've not blogged as much this month, is taken up by a night class I have. I'm taking a quick, 4 week, Summer course in Interpersonal communications. What is interesting in the class is watching the nearly 30 other faces while one person is doing a presentation. It goes back, oddly, to my thoughts on how introverts and extroverts deal with social information.

In a setting like this you can really tell who is more extroverted: They keep their gaze on the presenter. Introverts,  like me, tend to stare off in the distance or downward. We're listening and processing the info rather than sucking in the scene waiting for the next. And rather than listen attentively I end up writing this (or, transcribe my notes the next day ^_^).

It's also interesting to realize how some people hover between these two states. You'll see attention paid out, but then switch to processing. Back and forth they go, sometimes with more attention or more processing time. It goes to prove my idea about the MBTI being more percent, rather than absolute, based. I mentioned in my Healer post how I switch between Feeling and Thinking. Same idea here, but between extroversion and introversion. Something I would never accuse myself of wavering on (I AM an introvert, damn you). Also add in the fatigue of a 6 pm - 10 pm, Tuesday to Thursday class and you get some interesting reactions in the subject.

In closing, a sentence that came out of my notes but never found a place to fit in the above because it can stand on its own:

"When you are not accountable for what you are listening to, a truer self emerges."

The Hair is Done For: Blagojevich Convicted

So, you may remember many moons ago I was kind of sort of making this a political blog, or at very minimum many of my earlier posts were about politics. Including this one about Rob Blagojevich, former governor of Illinois. Yeah, that one was a long time go.

It's not that I've dropped politics, I just don't blog nearly as much on the subject anymore. I have been following things, so it comes as no surprise (to everyone except the man in question) that Blago just got convicted. Really,  that's all I have to say about it: This damn thing was so obvious from the beginning I'm surprised it's front page news right now!

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Also sorry about my lack of posts. Given I'm a mere 2 months away from moving out of my home state, finishing my last class here, and wrapping things up at work... yeah, I've got a lot of time on my hands, right ~_^

The Social Battery

A friend of mine read my last post, The Healer, and was puzzled. He didn't peg me as the quiet shy type. My mouth was agape when he told me this as it meant he just, well, didn't get it. Allow me to explain what I mean by that.

The Healer, or Personality Types and You!

I am a healer. I am a weaver of fanciful stories that span the far reaches of my mind. I am a mender of many things: Souls, hearts, minds, computers. I think by this point your head is cocked to the side, so I will dispense with some odd wisdom I’ve picked up about myself over the years. It concerns 2items from Psychology; The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, and its derivative the Keirsey Temperaments.

Osama's death, in funny pictures

So, as in my last post I really don't have a huge amount to write about on Osama Bin Laden's death. It's odd that I am this speechless about politics, as 90% of my blog ends up being about political subjects.

Moving away from that the saying 'a picture is worth a thousand words' has been no truer than in this man's death, so without further ado I submit to you a brief collection of some of the funnier ones I ran into over the past few days. Funnier is in italics because my humor is a bit warped ~_^:

The End Is The End Of What?: Osama Bin Laden Dead

This post isn't going to amount to much. I'm personally trying to just put thoughts down on this subject.

So 7:15 pm Sunday night, 5/1/11, I'm on my laptop sitting on my couch, working on my English paper due the next day. I have twitter open, as oft I do, when I see a retweet saying the President is going to make a speech in 15 minutes.

Needless to say, 2 things happened after that: We, as a world practically, watched the clock tick as it took 2 hours nearly before Obama came on the screen (I watched online). The other was, within those 15 minutes it was to take to start Obama's speech, we knew what it was about.

Osama Bin Laden is dead. The chatter spread through Twitter like a California Wildfire (which, living in this state, I know WAY too much about).

Even now, I'm still in a bewildered state of "Wait, we finally got the fucker? Really?"

There's so many questions of how and what's next... I don't really have an idea for a full post, but being silent isn't my MO in this case ~_^

The Ways of Chaos

Ages ago on this blog I tried to get out my ideas about the word chaos. In effect I failed, as over the years I understand more and more about order and it's relation to chaos.

The Price of Education

An interesting set of conversation came up in my computer class last night. Our teacher has several times in the past talked to us about the plight of the community college system here in California, so having her walk in and let us know the latest developments wasn't unusual.

Coastline District, which houses OCC where I attend, is loosing $2.6 billion. We're looking at more class cuts, less faculty, and possibly a $10 increase in per unit tuition. And this is for in-state students. A guy that sits next to me in class, George, move this year from Miami, FL. He paid $800 ($200/unit for out-of-state, 4 until class in C++) and nearly jumped out of my seat when he told me that.

Something else came out of the conversations. Our teacher mentioned "You know we here in state have the cheapest tuition. other states are worse." Me being of a curious sort I decided to check out a local college, Mesa Community, to see what their rates were.

My heart sank a little when I saw the costs:

I'm not going to complain that my classes this semester cost $182. I got 7 units, but at their rate I wouldn't even get 3.

Arizona Trip, Part II

Ok so a few days later I get around to finishing off these posts about my trip. I was just too tired Sunday, and work has kicked my ass.

Arizona Trip, Part I

What…a….day!

No, really. I’m tired as hell right now. 6 hours a driving, but I’m alive and in Arizona. I'm fine, aside from having to find a Starbucks to do this post from (fucking Motel 6 having their internet/wifi down until Monday. What a goddamn crock. I got what I paid for, I suppose.)

Trip Plans

So a little back and forth has been going on between UAT and I. I got a consultation, and I'm planning a trip of sorts.

A little background here: I hardly travel anywhere anymore. Save for a trip in 2003 to Las Vegas and last years trip to Comic-con I really haven't ventured outside Orange County in a while. So me deciding to make a 6+ hour is an unusual event worthy of documentation.

Yes, I'll be taking pictures when I can and pulling together a narrative of what's been on my mind over the past year. Yeah, nearly a year ago I came up with my endgame for my current life. I'll keep you guys posted, trip starts Friday. Ciao.

Why I'm Not Married Yet

So I just finished reading/digesting a piece Tracy McMillan (no Trillian jokes, please) over at Huffpo entitled "Why You're Not Married" (thank you Kevin and Bean for having her on the air this morning). It's a truly great read and oddly something I've been thinking about as of late.

Things Falling into Place

So reading my Monday post I realize just how stressed out I was, and how as of today that it makes me laugh. No, really, I'm fucking giggling like a schoolgirl now.

Interesting finds at work

Just to show you how much I find in the world to talk about I'd like to share with you something I recently found. Stuck amongst literal piles of computer waiting to go back to the manufacturer I stumbled upon this. I have to assume it was left in someones old laptop bag and got into the mess we had. Just take a look, if you will:

Yeah... this is some high level, Christian whacknuttiness. This was all just one page, under the pile of laptops I was putting together to ship out. I stared at it for a little bit and though "Are there really people who read this?" Sadly, yes there are else no one would have a Xeroxed copy of it.

Stress

Many things falling

So it's been a bit since I last posted and I apologize. Next to work AND school right now I haven't had a lot of free time to blog. But what I've been doing makes such an interesting post so here it goes:

This is what my life feels like right now

Followup: Yes AT&T is trying to piss me off

Small followup here: When I got my forced data plan removed on Friday they also removed my texting plan and my ability to text. I didn't find this out until this morning when I realized texts from last night didn't go through. I'm going to keep this short but I have a case number now since they don't have my texting plan available anymore. But for now I have the lowest plan at half the price (1000/month is normally $10, but I'm getting it for $5 which was the cost of my old plan) for now, and I am looking at other options. This is bullshit but I'm too tired to have seething text put on the screen like before.

How AT&T pissed me off this morning

So, I do have to say there are certain things I love about working currently in the IT department of my company (for the rest, read my endgame post). One of the benefits is when there's a massive roll out of any new devices the old ones get sent back. But if it's not done in time they become freebies we can take.

So imagine my delight when my coworker Todd yesterday flatly hands me over a free BlackBerry Curve. He and I had talked about smartphones (he's our aircard/phone admin) and features and such. Really and truthfully I just use my phone as a phone and for texting. His suggestion was to forgo a data plan that I would not need and just turn off data services on the BlackBerry itself. So I gleefully took the BB, turned off data, popped in my SIM Chip and went on my way.

That was yesterday afternoon. This morning, this bullshit was in my inbox:

When politics goes violent: The Shooting of Rep Giffords

Oh lord and lady: My heart goes out to AZ Rep Gabrielle Giffords and the others (at least 12 reported right now) whom were shot at today at an event in Tuscon, AZ. So far reports are that Giffords is out of surgery, fixing up the gunshot to her head. She's in critical condition. 6 others, including a federal judge, are dead.

General Mutton Chops, or How to Completely Own at Trivial Pursuit

Meant to put this blog post up but got lost in a shuffle. So anyways NYE was a fun time over at my sister Crystal's home with some of our friends. One friend brought a new, unwrapped Trivial Pursuit game. This one was odd, as the colors were not the category but each card had its own category.

So we had a "Kids vs Adults" game, two teams. Mid-game we came up for a wedge piece and pick "Facial Hair" card. The question was a picture one:

Who is this man and what facial hair style did he lend his name to?

We, the adults, were actually stumped for a while. We began asking "Those are mutton chops, right?" It was at this moment that my mind subconsciously started bringing the answer up. I asked "But I don't remember a General Mutton in the Civil War or anything, do you?"

I cannot explain how my mind works like this. I am, at heart, and archiver of knowledge. And when I get into a situation where trivial trivia works to my advantage it feels like a Chechov's Skill (Which is a sub-trope of Chechov's Gun. Warning, do not click either link as the TV Tropes vortex can suck up hours of time click-read-clicking-reading). 

Moving back to the story, slowly but surely the story of General Ambrose Burnside came up in my brain. And the credit for coining the term Sideburns to describe, well, sideburns. I mean look at him up there. That's like 4 inches of hair there. It's no wonder they named it after him. And yes, we got the question right, I danced around since we won a wedge (Adults ultimately won as well by the end of the night).

This event also brings me back to the memory of another holiday (this time Christmas) game of Trivia Pursuit (and again with same sister). The question was "What folk singer turned rocker bla bla bla"... I don't remember the rest of the question because that wasn't how I answered it. I just thought, what other person other than Bob Dylan is famous for switching musical styles from folk to rock?