Feeling restless again. Creatively aimless. I feel like I need more of a long range goal, but I haven’t been really inspired to move in any particular direction.

Have an idea for a story game. Might sketch it out so it stops scratching my brain. But that would just be a stopgap.

Today was my friend Amanda’s birthday and Nick had put together an awesome day for her and her friends. We had brunch at Chez Zee (Bed and Breakfast French Toast FTW) and then hung out at their place while Nick picked up the cake and Amanda got a massage. We played video games and party games and iphone games. And there was cake.

I’m not a big diggnation fan, but I am a fan of Alex Albrecht and since there wasn’t a live Totally Rad Show this year at SXSW, this was the closest thing.

The line to Stubb’s stretched from Red River down to I-35, but, being Stubb’s, we all got in. While there is a lot of overlap between a TRS and digg crowd, I got the impression that, like the actual site, diggnation had a broader appeal. The whole scene was more rock star 2.0 than a panel at a tech conference.

The whole show was really fun. Local celebrity Brian Brushwood warmed up the audience with magic tricks, Scam School style. We participated in a Twitter hoax, broadcasting the news that Conan O’Brien was joining Revision 3. The digg CEO came out and talked about some new features coming to the site. Then Alex and Kevin did the show, which was really funny and alcohol fueled. Leo Laporte showed up with his mobile webcasting rig and ended up crowdsurfing (while webcasting the whole experience). Surprise guest Robert Rodriguez came on stage to talk about Predators. And then Alex and Kevin did some crowdsurfing.

I’ve been working my way through the complete Calvin and Hobbes, three huge tomes containing the entire run. It has aged well. After 20+ years, Calvin’s antics and Hobbes’ witticisms still amuse. I had forgotten, or perhaps not realized, how profoundly the strip had affected me. It celebrated imagination, making up your own rules, and overlaying reality with your own template. As an adult, I don’t look back and say to Calvin “Oh, you naive boy, you have no understanding of the world’s complexities.” I find myself saying, “You are right, Calvin. That is true, but adults pretend it isn’t.”

When I was a kid, I was bothered by Watterson’s seeming inability to stay on model with Hobbes. Sometimes he drew the tiger like Hobbes was just a stuffed animal. But now I know better. The stuffed animal was a metaphor for how adults just can’t deal with seeing the tigers all around them.

I was holding off on posting in my blog because I am going to be moving web hosts, but that has been delayed due to a mixup.

The STAPLE pre-party was neat. I had forgotten how many comic books there were at Austin Books & Comics. It felt like an ark for comic books, a backup vault in case civilization fell. I didn’t really know anyone there besides Chris, but my “Team Linus” shirt served as social currency. I also got to meet Goatboy, the artist who did the interior art for The Stork. I had only worked with him online.

Then I went to Reed’s housewarming party where I talked to cute girls about Doctor Who. Cory brought New Age and fruit, pretty much sealing the deal on the fun party situation.

So, starting tomorrow, my Google calendar looks like a blocky cross section of the Funtime Mountains or the EEG readout of the Busytown heartbeat. Lots going on. Planned soirées and the like. It resembles a social person’s schedule, as opposed to a Netflix hermit. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m deleting all the music from my iTunes collection which exists only because someone else was into it. I had the habit of downloading an entire discography if a friend mentioned some music I should check out. Or maybe I had the music because a girl I liked liked it.

I’m just over 100 gigs now, which is still a ton of music, much of which I may not have even heard.

I had this whole post mentally queued up about the nature of internet celebrity re: Penny Arcade vs. Jordan, Jesse, Go! but I’ve had a bit of wine, so it will need to be tabled for later. Instead, let me tell you about the fantastic Monte Cubano sandwiches I made tonight. As is tradition, we gather at Nick and Amanda’s to watch Lost. But first we have fancy sandwiches. Tonight I faced the challenge of preparing the sandwiches. I’m making a note here: Huge Success.

What is the recipe, you ask? Look no further than the wonderful Epicurious: click here for awesome sandwiches

Also, have you seen that amazing OK Go video for This Too Shall Pass?

Not much to report today except I discovered there is a new large expansion for Talisman coming out. Plus Adobe CS5 will supposedly get released in April. The new features of Photoshop CS5 look crazy.

Tired from errands. Bye now.