It’s almost impossible not to donate to the relief efforts in Haiti. I don’t even mean from a social responsibility standpoint. Ways to donate are just everywhere, so I end up sending money without even trying. At the grocery store, at the meetup group and the most irresistible avenue: games. $20 at drivethrurpg.com was magically changed into $40 for Doctors Without Borders and $1400 worth of PDF role-playing games and supplements. I barely even know what I bought. The offer was too compelling to ignore.
Archive for January, 2010
The Neverending Story
I’m re-reading the Neverending Story, which is a bit of a misnomer because I apparently came to its end at some point in the past. I don’t know if all editions of the book are as meta as the one I own. The text alternates between maroon and green ink, just like the book in the story, indicating which parts are from the book Bastian is reading and which are Bastian’s outside world. And it also has these great full-page illustrations for the first letter of each chapter, which happen to go through the entire alphabet, A to Z, just like the “real” book. I haven’t tried yelling out “Moon Child” to see if I am swept off to a fantasy realm of luck dragons and rock biters.
I first read it some time after seeing the movie as a child. I was as engrossed in the tale as Bastian. Indeed, I even got hungry when Bastian did and felt what he felt. I was enraptured with the thought of magical books that were somehow aware of their readers and could change over time. I imagined how I could create such a book. I remember becoming interested in finding just the right sort of blank book with properly enchanted paper stock.
The movie is a fairly faithful adaptation of the first half of the book. What the movie doesn’t tell you is that after he saves Fantastica (or Fantasia, as it is called in the film) from the Nothing, Bastian becomes a mostly pompous dick. At least at the part I’m at now. He has the power to remake the world as he sees fit and he sets himself up as a total badass with ultimate authority over all he sees. I’m assuming this is all leading to a lesson in staying true to yourself.
In other news, I attended a writer’s meetup. Again, I’m getting out, meeting new people with whom I might have something in common. We met at a coffee house and read brief excerpts from three of the attendees. This was followed by a round of constructive criticism. I managed to stave off an entirely judgmental attitude and contributed suggestions that were well received. Perhaps I am growing as a person. 
Inundated
Yesterday there were 15 new emails in my work inbox, which is a lot for the morning. I literally spent all day going through them and resolving each issue, even as more emails came in. Today was similar, but the emails were spread throughout the day. Each one a new wasp to add to the constant swarm of things that needed to be done. Somehow I managed to get a couple of web sites finished too. I’m the Scotty of web design, working miracles all by myself.
Uncorked
In an effort to meet new, creative people, I went to a mixer hosted by Austin Creative Alliance at Uncorked, a wine bar on east 7th. The group was mostly theater people, but they were expanding their charter to include all kinds of creative media. I met some theater people and talked about the business of producing plays. One of the guys’ next projects was a show based on the concept of childhood and was gathering childhood stories centered around certain themes.
The wine was okay, but then it was the special happy hour wine. I was drinking a Shiraz called “Wooden Nickel” and was fairly accurate.
I also got a recommendation for an allergist, so bonus, I guess.
Borderlands
Today was a lazy Sunday during which I played Borderlands. I downloaded the Zombie Island expansion. Borderlands itself is a loose parody of Mad Max and the Zombie Island is a direct parody of Left 4 Dead. So if you ever need to waste post-apocalyptic hockey mask-wearing mutants who are also zombies, there’s a game for you.
Beard
I realize that though John Hodgman ruled in my favor and Nick may consider this some kind of victory, I have made inroads toward bearddom. That is, I haven’t shaved for a week or so.
As there is no one around to make out with who might protest, I see no reason to try this out, at least experimentally.
Since I can’t figure out how to force WordPress to gracefully clear a float, I need to add a bunch of extra words so the text doesn’t wrap funny.
And some more words.
Hopefully this is enough.
Nope, it wasn’t.
Oooh, gotta shave that neck stubble.
Geez.
Churlish
Woke up around 6:30 and couldn’t fall back asleep. So I started work. Bad mood most of the day. Little tolerance for bullshit. It’s interesting that when some physical vector gets tweaked it makes my emotions more accessible. It was really easy to feel annoyed or sarcastic or bemused because I didn’t have enough sleep.
El Camino
Obviously, Google Wave was meant to facilitate interactive fiction of the old school variety. So a while back I started an interactive story game called El Camino. Mostly as a diversion, something to put me in a narrative space. The story concerns a man racing across the Arizona highway in an El Camino. He has stolen…something…and is being pursued by persons unknown. Of course, nothing in that description is what it seems.
If you are interested in participating or just reading along, let me know and I will add you to the Wave. If you need a Google Wave invite, I got plenty of those too.
Megan Fox Dream
I remember walking through a hilly area near a creek, like someplace back in the Midwest. I was talking to Megan Fox, but she was someone else. That is, whoever does casting for my dreams selected Megan Fox to play this character. We were just getting to know each other and there was vague romantic interest. She mentioned that she had a contagious illness and soon she wouldn’t be able to kiss anyone. I asked if I could be added to the list of potential kissers.
We walked to an old farmhouse, looking for my friend Jake. We found only traces of him like his baseball cap wedged inside a door handle. A group of serious-looking college frat boys sat around the table in one room, staring at me. Somehow I realized that they weren’t really human and they had killed Jake.
I went into the kitchen to discover than the Megan Fox girl had been replaced by Jake’s wife, Jenny. She was sitting in a rocking chair, knitting, while a tea kettle started to boil. I urgently explained that we needed to leave the house as it was the home of vampires or demons or whatever the frat boys actually were. They had killed Jake. She already knew about this and calmly explained that we needed to stay because Jake’s ghost now haunted the place. We needed to help him seek vengeance.
Suddenly my old-fashioned cell phone started vibrating in my breast pocket. Then it started to burn. This was Jake warning us to run for our lives.
I woke up.
Milk
In an effort to narrow down what causes the horrible phlegm build-up I sometimes experience, I’m going to try eliminating dairy products entirely. From my diet, not from the planet (“We gotta nuke this cow pasture from orbit. Only way to be sure.”) I’m already lactose intolerant, but it seems like after I have a bowl of cereal, even with lactose-free milk, I get all congested.
So I picked up some soy milk and almond milk. I really dreaded this day as I figured soy milk would taste terrible. But it was okay. Or perhaps the Cookie Crisp covered the taste.
I still want to see an allergist to see if there is anything else I should be avoiding. I will also be looking into surgery to correct my deviated septum. Being able to breathe clearly through both nostrils would be nice.