I still need to write up an account of STAPLE for yesterday, but I’m still pretty wiped out.
Last night/this morning I found myself at a party with improv peeps from The New Movement. We didn’t know whose house it was. The walls were adorned with large anatomical illustrations where one might find a Van Gogh. Similarly, there were coffee table books about horse anatomy. Outside on the patio, a projector displayed super gay music videos against the side of the wall. I don’t know if it was a primarily gay party or what. It was just the backdrop to some good conversations and some idiot savant wisdom coming out of Milo’s mouth, including some secrets about sloths and the directive to not deny his passion.
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 »
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.
It snowed today. Big, thick flakes that stuck. The kids in the apartment complex across the street had a snowball fight instead of shooting at each other.
Today, as I methodically vacuumed the rugs, I remembered something that happened a few weeks ago. The maintenance people were systematically going from apartment to apartment, changing air filters and checking the smoke detectors. A stern little woman herded the maintenance men around, delegating which apartment each should go to.
Eventually they came to my apartment. Once the little woman had a chance to appraise my place she said, “This isn’t your apartment, is it? Is this your girlfriend’s?” When I insisted that I lived there and asked her to explain, she just snickered. I would love to meet someone who had three video game consoles and a Millennium Falcon in her living room.
Just before she left, she looked at my rugs and exclaimed, “Where did you get these?”
I told her I bought them years ago at Wal-Mart.
She said, “No. I looked at Wal-Mart for rugs like this and they didn’t have them.”
Then she walked out.
Recently I decided to try reading the the Dune books in chronological order, including the extended universe books by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. I made it about 100 or so pages into the Butlerian Jihad before I couldn’t stand it. The story seemed epic and could have been interesting, but the writing was just so juvenile I couldn’t justify spending more time in the series.
So I satisfied my Dune craving by rewatching the Dune Extended Edition with Nick and Amanda. Despite the horribly dated effects, it is still awesome.
Sometimes I fall into that slough of self-examination where I feel as though I have accomplished nothing with my life. Or, when compared to Person X, I am found wanting. This often happens when I’m not currently working on a creative project, as they tend to define me and give me purpose.
So I think it might be helpful to recollect the things I have achieved. Not in a boastful, resting on my laurels sort of way. But to remind myself that I am the same person who did all of those things. Try it yourself when you are feeling somewhat less than. Read the rest of this entry »
As with JoCo, it seems that going to see Mike Doughty has become a yearly ritual. This time he dropped by the soon to be closing Cactus Cafe on the UT campus. Entering the sleek, hip student union made me pine for college and youth.
This was the first time I had seen the Question Jar show, where he answers written questions from the audience between every few songs. He kept the answers pithy and amusing. It was a typical Doughty set, with a few Soul Coughing tunes and stuff from the new album thrown in. I hadn’t realized how similar the guitar riffs were on about half of his songs. It created a perpetual anticipation: Which song is this? Is it going to be Circles?
He played Looking at the World From the Bottom of a Well and Tremendous Brunettes, but no Gambler cover and no Pleasure on Credit. Can’t have everything.
Legend of the Seeker, based on “The Sword of Truth” novels, is an archetypical (that is to say, cliche) fantasy show on par with Xena, full of sketchy special effects and cheesy dialogue. But I have a huge crush on Kahlan so I’ve decided the show is awesome and I’m going to watch it. So there.