Exercise 4 - Heels

Exercise 4 - First Draft - Heh, another one about feet, lovely.  Probably gonna phone this one in tonight.  Not particularly interested about writing about feet again.
"You are in a waiting room (doctor's office, job interview, etc.). People are sitting more or less in a circle. Describe several of them -- focussing only on their feet! Type of shoes, cleanliness and condition of shoes, toes if they show, how they let their feet rest. Are they quiet or do the feet move? What can you tell about the person from the feet?"

Heels

As I walked in to the room, I looked around me, wondering what a strange place this was.  I expected to find people sitting in chairs, reading magazines, waiting for their turn to go in.  What I found was a thin room lined with a row of tiny booths on both sides.  Each one had a curtain drawn over it so that you could only see the feet of the person sitting inside.  My first impression of them was that they'd probably feel rather claustrophobic.  They couldn't have been more than two or three feet wide and judging by the position of people's feet, and about four feet deep.  I looked at my ticket again--four--and went to the corresponding booth.  I sat down on the chair inside and closed the curtain in front of me.  That's what I was supposed to do right?

I looked to the booth left of me and all I could see was the person's left foot.  It was cocked at such an angle that I'm guessing they had their right left straddled over their left.  High heels--a lady.  I still don't know how women walk in those things.  The heels were a subdued red, fairly classic in their design, with about a 3 inch heel.  The shoe seemed to be completely without blemish, they were either very new or well taken care of.  The foot looked to be in hose...it was hard to tell sometimes with that color.  "Nude" I think is how they refer to it.  Their foot didn't move, I'm guessing they felt calmer than I did the way my foot was bouncing constantly.

Probably a business woman or someone used to weird or stressful situations.  I mean really, what was the purpose of these booths?  Why can't we see each other.  I loosened my tie a little so I could breath a bit better and contemplated what type of job could require this type of anonymity of its applicants.  Come to think of it I didn't know much about the job myself.  I figured I'd find out soon enough, and concentrated on practicing my answers for interview questions until they came to get me.

Exercise 3 - The Seed

Exercise 3 - First Draft
"You meet a man in a bar in a strange town. He has a cat on his lap, and he orders a cup of coffee, slowly spoons sugar into it. He strokes the cat's black fur and says, "This contact is illusory. The cat and I are separated as though by a pane of glass, because man lives in time, in successiveness, while the magical animal lives in the present, in the eternity of the instant." What do you say back to him? And he to you? What does the cat do? What happened to this man before he came into the bar?"

The Seed

I stared blankly at the old man for a moment trying to wrap my head around what he had just said.  I was failing miserably and all I could manage at the time was, "Huh?"

The old man laughed.  Not condescendingly per say, but I felt like a kid who was confused why water makes things wet.  He seemed to ponder for a moment before replying to me.  "We're so busy living in the past or future, always looking at what could have been and what should be, that we never truly see how things are right now."  His cat stretched on his lap contentedly and purred loudly as the old man rubbed its belly.

"Trying to be all deep on me Gramps?  I'm not exactly in a fit state at the moment for deep...stuff."  I took another sip of my drink, hoping he might leave it at that.

He opened his mouth as if to say something but then thought better of it and smiled.  "I'm sorry to have bothered you.  Enjoy your evening."

"You too Gramps."

I couldn't explain it, but at that moment I didn't want him to leave.  It didn't make any sense, I didn't know the old codger.  I just felt like maybe I'd missed out on something, something important that I was too inebriated to embrace.  I set the drink down and watched as the door closed behind the old man and his cat.

-------------------------

The old man had stood outside the bar window for at least ten minutes before going in.  He had thought that maybe, just maybe, he'd finally found the one he sought.  "Well, if we're going to do this, then let's do this."

A half hour later he stepped out of the bar and headed off in to the night, smiling.

"The seed has been planted, Penelope.  Let's just hope it has enough time to grow."

Exercise 2 - Really?

Exercise 2: Second Draft - Tried for a slightly different ending tone.  Trying to match her expression a bit better.

Really?

Oh no they did not...

Hey!  HEEEEY!  I know you guys can hear me!  Why does my voice sound...aaaarrrgghh, I'm a woman!  Let me out of this simulation, right now.  RIGHT NOW!

Seriously guys? You think this is funny?  What is th--I'm old too!?  When I get out of here, I swear by all that is unholy, I will end you two!

Ok, Russell, just calm down and lets figure this out so we can get out of here.  Where in the world am I?  Somewhere in Europe...1920's maybe?  I guess I should have a look around and see if I can find the exit.

Thump.  Thump.

What in the name of--my leg is a stump?


...Really?

My First Scribophile Critique

Last night I gave someone my very first critique.  http://www.scribophile.com/authors/robert-vincent/works/the-sword-of-dreams/17654/#comment-117402

Since I'm not a master of style and grammar yet, most of my comments centered around clarity of the story, i.e. questions left unanswered or sentences that just didn't make sense.

Took at while, but it was a lot of fun.  They have a karma system on the site.  (incoming wall of 'critique's).  You can't post work to be critiqued until you've critiqued others.  The longer their work the more karma it is worth to critique and the longer your critique the more karma it is worth.  Then if people 'like' your critique you can get even more karma.

You can then spend the karma to enter contests or to post your own work for critiquing.  Your work will be put in line to be spotlighted and is guaranteed to stay spotlighted until it has received at least 3 "long" reviews.

Exercise 1 - Freckles

Excercise # 1 - Second Draft - Focused on getting the first paragraph into the same narrative style as the rest.  As well as less repetition when describing Freckles.

Freckles

There's an old shack sitting alone in the middle of the woods.  It isn't exactly run down, but it's not the lap of luxury either.  It's an older building, but not run down.  It was well cared for when it was still used. Long planks that reach from the foundation to the roof serve for siding and tin sheets cover the roof.  There's a window just under the point of the roof so there's probably a loft or storage of some sort.  Some sort of sign hangs from the loft window, but any writing is long since weathered away.  The doorway underneath the loft window--from this angle at least--appears to be without a door.  The only other visible windows--two of them--are rather plain, with simple white frames around the six smaller panes that made up each one.

There is no direct path to the doorway, instead there are two planks spanning a five foot gap that surrounds the entire structure, exposing a foundation about five feet high that looks to be covered in tin sheets, with a small drain just underneath the entryway.  The tin shows signs of years of use, hard water and rust cover most of the surface.

Inside is nothing but an inch of dust coating everything, a lone ladder leading up to the loft above, and single set of footprints leading toward the loft.  With the door indeed missing, there is much more wear on the inside than would normally be expected.  The walls are plain wood, no wallpaper or paint.  There is no entrance to a basement, at least nothing plainly visible.  Up the ladder is more dust coating everything and a lone figure crouched hidden in a dark corner.  It's clear that the person here is the first one to have been here for a very long time.

The figure peeks out the loft window for several long minutes before getting up.  They brush the dirt off and head down the ladder and out the front door looking around carefully.  The girl is very young, no more than twelve or thirteen.  She eases out on to the planks spanning the gap around the structure glancing anxiously in every direction.  Her face is thin and heavily freckled on the cheekbones set above cheeks that are slightly gaunt, but not sickly.  Thin lips are currently pulled tight in worry.  Bright emerald green eyes contrast sharply against her bright red shoulder length hair--it has clearly been a while since she's had a chance to comb it out. Still, she is very pretty even if a little wild looking.  Blue denim overalls drape loosely over her small frame hanging from her skinny shoulders.  The straps have been tied together by a bit of string, to keep them from falling off.  She's wearing a green t-shirt with wrist length sleeves and a narrow neck.  Her shoes, more like boots, are made of a sturdy leather material, most likely suited to a lot of foot travel through hard terrain.  Overall it looks as though her clothes are a little worn but not ragged, she could have just been lost in the woods for a day exploring. 

Apparently satisfied that she is alone, she runs off in to the woods, surprisingly quiet while passing through the undergrowth.

Hopefully this is at least somewhat what you saw.

Scribophile

I've found a great online writer's group called Scribophile.  If you like writing and want to improve, check it out!

My new profile there: Profile!!

Exercise - February 15 2012 - Troll Sole

Current Exercise for 2-15-2012

"What can you learn from feet? If you're interested in character (or even in plotting), it could be a lot.

Either do a real life observation, or (if you're already engaged in a long prose narrative project like a novel or a memoir), remember or imagine that you or your main character or someone else is looking at some feet. This might be in a waiting room, or from the perspective of being tied up and gagged on the floor, or working a shoe salesperson. Think up a situation where someone is observing feet, and describe them in detail, including shoes if appropriate, pants cuffs-- right up the ankle or a little above. Describe first, then speculate or look for clues.Where could this take you?"

My wife requested to hear more about Dak, so I'll probably do something from his perspective today. Here goes:

Exercise ??? - First Draft

Troll Sole

Slowly, the great blur that was Dak's vision began to coalesce in to something more definable. He could tell that he was very close to...something. He blinked his eyes a few times trying to clear his vision. After a few moments he could begin to make out more details of what he could now tell was a foot and a rather large one at that. He crinkled his nose as the smell of the foot wafted in. There was nothing particularly remarkable about this foot. The sole of the foot looked like a single giant callous. It seemed more like a piece of leather tacked on to the bottom of the foot than actual skin. It was pitted and cracked and was probably thick enough to take a nail without even being noticeable. The toes weren't much better. Gnarled and stunted, they looked more like chopped off roots of a tree than actual toes. The nails looked hard and brittle, probably housing more than a few strains of fungi in their time. The skin on top of the foot was hardly better. Deeply tanned and dry it was doubtful that this foot had ever in its life been in a shoe. Scars crisscrossed his feet, some of them old and barely noticeable and some that looked to have barely healed over. The skin became more grayish near the ankle and coarse hairs sprouted at all angles.

He didn't dare look up. A troll...just great. There was a sound of rummaging through a sack and he knew it was pointless to hope it wasn't his. He jumped slightly when the strangely shaped tin he'd found in the abandoned shop fell to the ground in his view and clattered around for a few seconds before coming to rest. His heart pounding and his mind racing he wondered how he was going to get out of this situation.

Exercise - Valentine

I can't find a link for yesterday's exercise on the site at this moment. The short of it was that it needed to do with a heart of some sort. If she puts it back up with a number I'll edit this later.

Exercise ??? (was current on Valentine's Day) - Currently Second Draft.

Valentine

Dak paced around the object as he eyed it suspiciously. He bit his lower lip as he reached hesitantly toward it, afraid of what it could be, or what might be inside. Just inches away from it he jerked his hand back. Idiot, who knows what's in there. He stood up and checked to make sure that he was still alone before kneeling back down. This place must have been a shop of some sort. It certainly would not have been suitable for lodging. There was no way to tell what used to be sold here. Anything that wasn't bolted to the ground was already taken and,  judging by the some of the damage apparent to even casual inspection, some of what had been. Everything, except for this object lying abandoned in a dark corner.

It was small, no more than four inches wide and seemed to be made of metal. It was wrapped in a very thin red paper. There was a curious shape to it, like someone had taken an oval, creased both ends to a point, and then pushed one end in toward the other. That is such an inefficient shape for a container. If indeed it was a container. There was a crease, or at least the appearance of one that ringed the circumference of the object, but it had no discernible hinge. Perhaps it simply opened in to two halves, a top and bottom.

His heart was beating quickly. He yearned to know what this thing contained. He continued pacing, wringing his hands and licking his dry lips slightly. It could be something dangerous, but it could also be something valuable. He leaned over the object, just staring at it intently. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and steeling his nerves reached out and grabbed the object.

He frowned. Worthless. Anything this light couldn't be worth the trouble. Keeping the container at arms length he attempted to pry it open. Surprisingly it came open rather easily. Not a container meant for security then. Inside were four nuggets each in the same shape as the container itself, made of something he didn't recognize. Each one was resting in individual slots that seemed to be shaped specifically to hold them. The slots were all part of one piece that fit the shape of the lower half and seemed to be made of some flimsy brown plastic. Each nugget had a slightly different pattern on them but all were made of some smooth brown substance. Not taking his eyes off of the container he reached in to his pack and rummaged around for a moment before pulling out his blade. He poked gently at one with the tip of the blade, which penetrated the soft exterior with no effort at all. He shaved off a small sliver of the substance and lifted it to his nose.

It smelled divine. It was a sweet scent, with just a hint of bitterness to it, but also some sort of fruity scent. Food?! It couldn't be. This place had probably been deserted for years. If this substance was edible, how had it survived so many years. He smiled and closed the container quickly as he stood up. At this point he didn't care how it lasted so long, he could probably make a fortune trading it to the right people. He stuffed the container in his pack, slung the strap over his shoulder, and strode out on to the empty street and off in to the distance.

Random Writings of a Roleplayer

For those still following me, thanks for staying subscribed, for any newcomers, welcome. It's been a few years and a lot has changed. I'm no longer working technical support at SRS, I've since moved to QA (quality assurance) and am now actually a Software Engineer. The full story of all these transitions I'll have to save for another time. I also now have a son, who will be two in July. My daughter will be five in June and is ready to start Kindergarten. Time really does fly. It's amazing that my daughter is starting school already.

Now more to the point of this post and its title. I want to get back in to writing. I enjoy writing and want to improve so I went and found a site that has writing exercises: http://www.meredithsuewillis.com/writingexercises.html. I decided to do the exercises on this site and that I would post my exercises here for anyone who is interested. I'm hoping this will both inspire me to write more in general and also to keep my blog more up to date. Comments and constructive criticisms are welcome :) By constructive, I don't mean they have to be favorable. I mean, if you don't like it, tell me why, don't just say "sucks lawls".

My first post will be one I actually wrote yesterday, and I'll probably make a few edits, so you'll be getting a second draft of it. I don't know if I'll generally post second and third drafts here or if I'll just keep to firsts. Whichever ends up being more fun I guess.

Let the writing commence!

Yet more lunchtime ramblings.

Well, seeing as I have the time, I figure I should probably start putting something here again. I doubt very many are following this anymore, and considering the 5 month break in posts, I don't blame them.

Anyways, in general life has been good and we don't really have much to complain about. Our little girl has really grown. She is 19 months old now and full of energy. Unfortunately a lot of that energy is focused in to climbing whatever she can and she is good at it. She has already figured out how to climb out of the crib, forcing us to order a crib tent to keep her in. I guess that will work until she figures out how to undo whatever keeps the thing on the crib. Other than that she is well and healthy aside from a little cold she's had for the last week. She's a real joy and keeps us busy constantly.

Back a few months, right about when things really started looking bad for the economy our company was one of the ones doing a round of layoffs and gladly I was not among those let go. It definitely made the holidays a lot brighter not having to worry about where I would be working next week. We had a lot of fun during Christmas. We went and visited family in Idaho. Luckily the weather was very accommodating both on the way up and on the way down. It was good to see family again and I even got to see my friend who I haven't seen in over 10 years, Tim. He's the one who writes the Vagabond blog that I have linked. It was really cool to get to see him again. Both of us are a bit older and a bit heavier than when we last saw each other :) We told each other we'd have to make sure it wasn't a decade between visits again. We'll see how things go.

After Christmas I sold off one of my game systems to raise money to buy a PS3. We've really been enjoying it. We have a couple games for it, Little Big Planet and Ratchet and Clank. Little Big Planet (LBP from here on out) is one of the most creative and entertaining games I have played in a while. I would recommend it to anyone. It has really fun levels but also lets users create levels themselves for others to play, so there is an almost unending supply of levels to play. Warning though, the cuteness of the game is addicting beyond imagination and you'll find yourself wanting to buy the little costumes that are sold for your sack person (if you play it you'll see what I mean). It's one game you don't want to miss out on.

There isn't just that though, the PS3 is also our all around entertainment station. We subscribed to netflix and now we not only get Blue-Ray movies in the mail once or twice a week that we can watch, but there is also a decent selection of movies that can be streamed directly to the playstation. This bascially means if it's on netflix, hulu, youtube, cbs, nbc, espn, or on my computer, we can watch it on our TV. It's a pretty sweet deal. All that and a game station in one system isn't too shabby.

Anyways, back to the kiddo. It's been an interesting time for her. Last year she hit her teeth on the tub and knocked them in. We had to keep seeing the dentist every few weeks until he finally said that the teeth looked like they'd be fine afterall. He said usually when that happens kids lose the teeth they knocked in and often damage the permanant roots. Gratefully though, nothing happened to her. It's fun to watch Erin grow and develop her personality. Kid is a little firecracker sometimes. When something doesn't happen the way she wants it she can start to get upset pretty easily. Hopefully this only lasts through the toddler phase :p

Sveta is also doing well. She has been doing a little geneaology for people here and there and earning a little extra that way. She gets to stay home with Erin, of course, which is a blessing to the family, but a lot of work for her. Erin can be quite the handful. She gets to talk to her parents in Lithuania every day through Skype and Erin enjoys seeing her grandparents on a regular basis that way too.

My brain is a jumble trying to get down the various things that have happened without creating a 10 page post, so I'll just have to post more as I think of it. In closing, I just have to say that I found it rather ironic that on Superbore Sunday, that attendance at 9am church was so low considering that the superbore didn't even start for about 5 hours after church finished. I guess people needed to make sure they were good and rested so they could be attentive and alert for the church of the superbore ;p

Lunchtime Ramblings

Well, it's that time of day again. Yeah, that's right. Lunch time. That time of day when we get to kick back, relax, and shove our faces full of food to get us through the rest of the afternoon.

Here's some of the things on my mind.

Obama vs. McCain. This is scary to say, but there is a chance that I may actually vote Democrat this year. I know!! Crazy! I'm just not entirely convinced that McCain is the one to lead us through the next four years. To be quite honest, I don't know that we really have much of a selection of candidates this year. It almost feels like I'm making a choice between poking my left eye out or my right. It's times like these that you wish you had the ability to look into the future, see what the outcome of the next four years will be for each choice and then vote accordingly. I'm just going to have to do my best to research the two candidates and decide which cliff will be safer to jump off of.

Retake on Crisis Core. Still a fun game, but I have to say, I did get a little bored of doing the missions in the game (which is the only way of grinding/gaining levels by the way) and so I now find myself in a conundrum. The game took a huge difficulty spike right near the end, so I find myself lacking in the levels sufficient to proceed and yet I find myself not really desiring to do any more of the freaking repetitive missions either. One of these nights I'll just need to buckle down and do it just because I want to finish the game. I would still recommend the game to anyone, but just be warned you have to REALLY like the mission part of the game.

Let's see...there must be something else on my mind. Well, I have a rather volitile rant about illegal immigration brewing in my mind, but I think I'll save that for its own post and when I'm feeling particularly awnry about it. Stay tuned...

Oh yes! The Mojave Experiment. When I found out about this experiment, I thought it was hilarious. It turns out Microsoft wanted to prove just how much brainwashed zombies people are when it comes to operating systems. They brought a bunch of people in and asked what people thought of Windows Vista. For the most part people trashed it, regardless of whether they've used it or not. Then get this. They show them this new OS, Mojave and have them play around with it for a short time and then rate it. People loved it, they gave it an average rating of 8.5/10 as opposed to what they gave Vista (4/10). Here's the kicker. They were then told that Mojave IS Vista. It was just reskinned to look different. The people's reactions were awesome and some people refused to believe that what they were just shown was Windows Vista. To experience the lawlness yourself, visit http://www.mojaveexperiment.com.

This just goes to show that far too many people are relying solely on the word of Mac elitist zealouts and Mac smear campaigns. When people get a chance to use it themselves, on average they are pleased with it. I just pray that this same mindless sheepism doesn't carry over into politics and religion. Sadly though, I have a suspicion that it may.

Well, that's my lunchtime thoughts. Enjoy your day :)

Random Ramblings

Well, it appears I have at least a couple repeat readers, so I'll try to keep my blog a bit more up to date, heh.

Not sure what to talk about so here's my thoughts on a few things.

Let's start with Prince Caspian. Don't worry, no spoilers this time. Not much I can say about the movie other than that I liked it. The movie was pretty good but unfortunately it didn't evoke that same sense of 'awe' in me that the first movie did. When my wife described it, she said it didn't have that same sense of "glory" that the first movie had. Basically, I think that the movie was just a bit darker than the first given the situation that Narnia was in. Also, there weren't any scenes that really felt climactic to me. Multiple times the movie came close to giving that feeling of a climactic battle or scene, but never quite got there. All in all though, I would recommend this movie to anyone who likes the Chronicles of Narnia.
I give Prince Caspian 4/5 Lions.

Final Fantasy: Crisis Core. I'm not done with the game yet, I would guess I'm about half way through, but as a fan of the original Final Fantasy VII, I love this game quite a bit. It's just really cool to be playing through the back story of FFVII. You're playing as Cloud's old friend Zack. You get a chance to see how Zack and Cloud met, Cloud's development as a SOLDIER operative, how Zack and Aerith become romantically involved and all that good stuff. I'm guessing that this game is going to take you right up to where Zack is mortally wounded by Sephiroth in Nibelheim (since the last chapter of the guide is in Nibelheim). I'm not actually using the guide to play, since I like to play through the first time without it, but my friend did look through it and pointed out the name of the final chapter of the walkthrough.
Combat in this game is quite a bit different from the other Final Fantasies, but other than the randomness involved in limit breaks and summons, the battle is actually quite fun and fast paced. You can actually dodge attacks and guard against them in real time, giving a bit more feeling of control as far as avoiding damage goes.
Final score - 4.7/5 Buster Swords.

Ooooh, I almost forgot Stargate Continuum. I recently finished my SG-1 collection with the latest Stargate movie, 'Stargate Continuum'. Stargate had already done two back-to-back episodes about time travel and fixing the timeline, so I wondered if this movie would be sufficently different to be worth the expense. I can say that I was pleased with the result. I don't want to give away the plot, but I will say it was a fitting end to the SG-1 saga (barring future releases). Ark of Truth and Continuum together wrapped up the storyline of the longest running sci-fi series ever and did it well.
Continuum gets 5/5 altered timelines.

I think that about covers it for today...and no, not every blog entry is going to be a game or movie review, but if I can't think of something specific to blog on, then those work as well as anything. :)

The Dark Knight

WARNING!! WARNING!! WARNING!! WARNING!!
SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT!
WARNING!! WARNING!! WARNING!! WARNING!!

Oh and in cased you missed that...Warning! Spoiler Coming!
If you have not yet seen "The Dark Knight" and do not wish to know the plot beforehand, do not read this post.
You have been warned...



I have to say that "The Dark Knight" was simply one of the coolest movies I have ever seen. I had high expectations and the movie delivered. This movie had everything I feel a Batman movie should have and everything I hoped it would. Darkness, villains who feel like real villains, plenty of action, and lots more. This movie did not even come close to descending into the campiness that previous Batmans either started in or slid quickly into. It started gritty and stayed gritty.

When the movie first started it took me all of about 10 seconds to remember that Harvy Dent is two face when he flips his coin in the car. (I mean aside from the fact that any comic book reading/cartoon series watching person would have known it just from the name). I really liked how they brought in two face and then took him out, because I'm not sure how they would have turned him into the main villain of this newest series of batmans without descending into the campiness I mentioned before.

The Joker...
What can I say about the Joker. He was brilliantly psychotic. Never before in any Batman movie have I said to myself "Oh no...he's not going to..." gulp "...he did..." He actually made me cringe. He was perfectly played in my opinion. The makeup just gave him a gritty and real feel. Something that the Jack Nicholson Joker never had. He felt neither scary nor real. Heath Ledger's Joker was brilliant and cruel and made for a worthy adversary for Batman.

I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY KILLED OFF BATMAN'S GIRL!! What is up with that? Seriously...though I understand that poor Batman has to live in a solitude of sorts, did they really have to blow Rachel up??? /sigh
I guess they did. That was one of the things that really made me say to myself, "Wow, they're serious about keeping this series dark..." I was just really surprised that they would do that. I don't know if any of the previous Batmans have lost their girls to death (I'll have to look).

Finally, Batman. Cool. Human. Vulnerable. I do agree with my friend about the raspy voice thing, that does get old, but like I said to him, if that is the only thing wrong with the movie, then I think I can live with it. Batman was actually ready to expose his identity to the world, just to stop one villain. He cared about the people who were hurt, he didn't want his influence to cause any innocents pain. They really brought out what Batman is in this film. Not a lapdog vigilante, but the silent protector, an icon, the one it's ok for the people to hate, the Dark Knight.

Something Funny

Sorry, no rant today. Something very funny occurred today however. We got some new gadgets at work today, one of them being UPSs for our computers (no not the Post Office - Uninterruptible Power Supplies). I shut my computer down, hook everything up to the UPS and start my computer back up. Yay, take that possible power outtages.

Well as luck and irony would have it, just before 5 pm there was a power outtage. As the power is going off, I'm thinking, "Awesome, good thing we just happened to get these in today." Then my computer shuts off...

What I had failed to realize is that of the 8 slots, only 4 of them will actually use the UPS battery, and the other 4 are just surge protectors. Yeah, you guessed it. My computer and moniters were plugged into the surge protector side of the UPS, not the battery side.

Let that be a lesson to you. If you get a UPS...and some of the slots say "Battery" on them...it's not for plugging battery operated devices into. :P

The "True Fans" of Diablo 3

It never ceases to amaze me. Blizzard has continually released awesome games; I don't believe they have released even a single game that has not been well received by the gaming public. And yet, somehow, when their latest games are announced (StarCraft 2 and Diablo 3!!!!!) the collective Borg force, known as the internet, gets up in arms about every single tiny little detail that is released about the games from day 1.

My latest experience is with listening to the self-proclaimed "true fans" of Diablo 3. It seems to me that no longer are Blizzard's games...well Blizzard's, because the internet seems to have claimed them as their own. I don't know how many times I've seen someone on the forums say "our game" or "my beloved game" when telling Blizzard how much something about the game sucks. Their attitude seems to run along the lines of "How dare you make a game the way you want it to...as if you own it!" (Which...they...do!). I'm not kidding here, people think this way. In the past Blizzard has made awesome games with minimal input from the fan community. What makes the fan community all of the sudden believe that without them Blizzard can't possible make a good game and that it is up to them to correct every mistake that Blizzard has so stupidly made? (In their oh so enlightened opinions...)

Blizzard has released one, single, solitary, 20 minute game play video for Diablo 3, meant to show off its graphics and some of its new features. While the normal fans of Diablo 3 go "COOOOOOOOOOL! That will be an awesome game!" the "true fans" are up in arms screaming "NOOOOOOOOOO! What have you done to OUR beloved game!!??". Normal fans see the potential in the game and recognize the video for what it is...a demo to get people excited. The true fans lament over the fact that the game isn't monochromatic and hard to see anymore and have even made a rather silly online petition (with worthless security, it's completely spammable). They want the look and feel of the old Diablos preserved (monochromatic, repetitive, generally a pain in the butt). They seem to believe that if you can see past your character's nose, then it's too bright.

Normal or real fans as I'll call them, recognize that the game will go through many changes before final release. Art will be altered slightly, textures will be updated, and the interface improved. "True Fans" write entire forum posts about how the entire game is going to be absolutely horrible because of some minute thing they picked out of one screenshot or one 5 second segment of the video. They seem to believe that that 20 minute video represented the ENTIRE game's content and that Blizzard has no idea what they are doing, and of course that they know exactly what Blizzard should do to fix the problem.

Oh, and of course there are the people who say "It looks like World of WarCraft!!" You won't believe how many people there are who think that because the new Diablo has color in it and a few textures have a cartoonish feel, that suddenly the game is like WoW!! Oh noes!!! Even if this were true, heaven forbid! It's not like WoW, in any way shape or form. The art style is simply Blizzard's style, not World of WarCraft! It's not even the same development/concept team for heaven's sake.

Basically, people need to get over themselves and just let Blizzard make their games (I could go on about what people say about StarCraft 2, but this post has gone on long enough). Post your thoughts if you want, give opinions, let Blizzard know what you think but PLEASE for the love of all that is good, quit trying to put your opinions across as fact. Just because you don't like what you see does not mean it sucks! It simply means that you don't like it. Anyways, Blizzard is far more likely to listen to constructive criticism than the ever present whiny, snarling, vindictive, arrogant, haughty, self-absorbed opinions put forth by the internet Borg.

I just want to say, great job Blizzard, keep up the good work and don't let the internet get you down.

Free of the World of Warcraft

Two years ago, I never thought that I would say this, but I am officially bored of World of WarCraft. That game that brought countless wasted hours of fun and enjoyment and guilt for not doing something more productive has lost its hold entirely.

Now this isn't to say that I've stopped gaming entirely or that I always use my time as best it can be since I stopped playing, but I do think I've used my time better than before.

When I first took a break, it was with great sadness and reluctance, but it had to be done to make sure that I graduated from college. At the same time, however, I felt a great sense of relief, as if I had been freed from something that had been taking so much of my time and given nothing in return. After a few months away from the game I graduated as planned, but I found that now that I had free time again, I wanted to use it for other things. Like I said, not always more productive, but a wider variety of things. I had simply lost the desire to play World of WarCraft. The things that I had grown bored of before I even left the game loom over me every time I even think of playing again and I just decide to do something else. Even those few times I logged on before my account expired, the game would load, I would find myself in Thrallmar, and I would find myself just chatting with people for a while and not doing anything else. I would finally decide I'm bored and log back out.

I will miss the friends I made and who knows, maybe one day I may play it again, but that doesn't seem likely at this point. I have more time to spend with my wife and daughter and STILL have time to do other things. With World of Warcraft, I had to spend my free time farming gold so that I could spend the rest of my free time raiding. It began to feel more like working than playing. Now, I'm not trying to imply anything about people who still play; it's a fun game and I definitely understand why people play it, I'm just glad that I don't anymore.

We'll see if Wrath of the Lich King piques my interest again, but it would have to make some pretty drastic changes for me to really get into it again.

So, if there is anyone actually reading this, what do you think about World of WarCraft? For those of you who managed to break its stranglehold, did you feel the same feeling of being set free? Share your thoughts!

Robert Jordan Has Passed Away

Well, all you Wheel of Time fans out there, the thing we feared and hoped would not happen has come to pass. Robert Jordan passed away yesterday, Sunday Sept. 16, 2007.

Yes, I think most of us had issues with some of what he wrote and/or writing style at time, but I think in general he has provided us all with a fascinating world that has entertained us for many years.

The following site has information about Robert Jordan and his series, and links to other sites that discuss the matter.

http://www.dragonmount.com/

I think the words on dragonmount.com quoted from Robert Jordan's WoT series is appropriate here:

"May you shelter in the palm of the Creator's hand, and may the last embrace of the mother welcome you home."

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Warning!! Spoiler Alert!! Do not read further if you do not wish to know a little of what happens in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Note: All characters and plot lines of HP7 property of J.K. Rowling


I've decided that I really need to start writing more, so I'll start with this small spot. My wife and I just finished reading the 7th Harry Potter book, and we loved it. The book had action, mystery, suspense, and a small smattering of love. So many questions were finally answered: Was Harry a horcrux? Who was Severas Snape really working for? Who would die and who would live? and more.

This book had me choked up half the time. I have to say that the three people who caused me the most sadness were Fred Weasley and Remus and Nymphadora Lupin. I was completely surprised by the death of Fred. Fred and George were both two of the coolest characters in the book. They could take any situation and make it funny and were loyal to Harry Potter until the end. Remus and Tonks weren't as much of a surprise to me due to the forshadowing of making Harry Teddy's Godfather. I was thinking to myself at that time, "will she do the same thing again?" She did.

I was glad to find out that Severas Snape really was working for Dumbledore to the very end. I think it was a very dramatic moment for Harry Potter to find out the truth, and to know that Snape had loved Lily Potter all his life and had her patronus. This was a cool revelation.

The whole thing about Harry Potter being a horcrux and dieing for the protection of others was a pretty cool concept. The whole thing seemed so messianic. Harry Potter willingly giving his life and then essentially coming back from the dead.

There is so much more I could say about the book, and will probably add to this later. For now I need to go; just know that this book was very well done from beginning to end. Kudos to J.K.

Our baby girl!

Well everyone, my wife, Svetlana, and I now have a little baby daughter. We decided to call her Erin Sophia. She was born 10:01 pm June 26th. She was 5 lbs 11 ounces and 18 inches. Sveta and I are both excited. We're home from the hospital now and everything seems to be going well. She's a little sleepy head, I guess she got that from me. Half the time she seems more interested in sleeping that eating. Anyways, she's just the cutest little thing. We'll make sure to keep family updated. Here are some pictures of her.

(These are just thumbnail size. If you want to download the pic, it will be full size.)
Erin not long after she was born

Sveta and I with the baby

Erin all bundled up

Here she is stretched out in the warmer

Close up

Erin in her one piece

In the carseat

Blogging...the final frontier....

These are the voyages of the blog-ship Arangarx...its continuing mission to explore strange new topics. To seek out new ideas and new methods of citation. To boldly go where....probably every blogger in the Universe has gone before!

::Que the cheesy exploration music::

Anyhoo, greetings all. This is my foray into the world of blogging. Whether I become some well known blogger or remain a lifeless moon of a lifeless planet in some unknown galaxy of the blogging universe, I hope for this to become a place for expression of ideas and who knows...maybe I'll inspire some soul to...something...

And yes, I am a role player. I've done pbem, group posting, freeform, and live-table-top among others. I enjoy the freedom of imagination that the role playing world offers. That being said, while I'm sure that some of my posts will include role playing games, this is not intended to be all about rpgs. I figure that I am enough of a gamer/role player that it is safe to identify myself to the world as such.

Next week's topic: Another Topic. (It'll be a good one too!)