I Is Healed

October 24th, 2007Blog0 comments

I am all better today; in fact I just got this strange, spine-tingling surge of well-being. It made me tremble. Either my body is re-upping the endorphins or I just caught some Jesus-spirit in me. Maybe both!

Currently Reading:

This is Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut — I had just gotten through Cat’s Cradle and wanted to keep the Vonnegut going. This one’s been sitting on my shelf for a while so I decided to hit it hard. I think in one million years my brain will be smaller. Maybe a little more dense, but with fewer worries.

My goal today is to get to the book store and buy this Harlan Ellison 50 Year Retrospective; I had heard of “I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream”, but this article in L.A. Weekly reminded me that my life needs some Ellison in it immediately. By the way, this L.A. Weekly article is itself required reading.

Distant Fires

October 23rd, 2007Blog0 comments

Still sick; meanwhile the light of the sun has been turned orange by local fires.

Productivity is decent although my level of cabin fever is rising. I have a laptop for a reason: To be able to go do my work somewhere else. But I am Patient Zero, and I may needlessly infect the innocent. So I’m staying here.

Besides, it takes a tremendous amount of effort to walk down the street to buy juice from Ralph’s. When I get back I’m literally knocked out. That’s what happens when you have Space Fever — your body commits almost 100% of its resources to fighting the alien spores in your blood stream.

I finished Half-Life 2 including both of its extra episodes. I wonder how Episode 3 will be delivered on the xbox. I’m probably not going to be buying a PC capable of playing it any time soon, so this will be the only method for injection for me. My favorite game in the box is still Portal. Maybe there will be an Orange Box sequel with Ep. 3, Portal 2, etc., etc.. I will put this on my magical wish list.

Okay, I have to go to Borders or the library today to pick something up. I’m going to summon all my strength (i.e. take a nap) before I go so I don’t collapse on the way there. It’s unnerving for people in the neighborhood to find dead bodies on the sidewalk.

Alternately I might just wait until I assume zombie form. I intend to come back as an athletic Rage Zombie as opposed to a D.o.t.D. Lumbering Zombie. Rage Zombies get all the ladies.

Hit Points Low

October 22nd, 2007Blog0 comments

I am sick. I haven’t been this sick in a long time. I have the flu, and it’s bearable. All that it’s done so far is given me the classic flu symptoms and really awesome dreams. Like one where I’m involved in planning a counterattack against an interdimensional alien invasion; another where I’m driving across a giant lake in Texas on an extremely narrow-laned concrete bridge. And then there’s another one where I was at the library hiding party invitations for Jay-Z in very specific books for very specific people to find.

Each of these things has a direct correlation to the things in my real life. Except for the driving in Texas thing — I don’t know where that’s from.

Anyway, being sick: This is why I haven’t answered your emails or played my moves or what not. In the past four days I’ve read four books, watched An Inconvenient Truth (which is indeed inconvenient to my future plans concerning building a skull-shaped secret base in the Antarctic), and just laid there. Playing video games is too strenuous for me, causing my autonomic systems to start sweating; typing this now is just below the threshold though.

I have been reading books on Autism and for a while figured that I have it, and then went through the various steps leading to acceptance. I also read Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle again and decided to become a Bokononist. I am easily swayed by what I read.

Change is afoot; more on this soon.

Cowboy Versus Samurai Arrives in San Diego

October 20th, 2007General0 comments

PERFORMANCES November 29-December 16, 2007
Brought to you by Mo`olelo

All Performances at the 10th Avenue Theatre in Downtown San Diego.
930 10th Avenue San Diego, CA 92111

TICKETS: $18-$25

Order tickets online at www.moolelo.net or call (619) 342-7395

The Cake is a Lie

October 16th, 2007Blog2 comments

Hoo boy. I finished this last thing, now I’m moving on to the next. This is one of my favorite feelings: Getting something done and going on to the next thing. Let the previous thing germinate and start growing something new. And now it’s done!! I took the night off to do a victory lap around the track.

Currently Reading:

I’m still on that sci-fi kick. I love books about war (War itself I’m not so crazy about), books about aliens, books about space. Here is a book about war against aliens in space. DELICIOUS. Instead of eating dessert I read books like this. Speaking of which, Nutella is still one of my favorite substances on earth. If I were a turntablist my DJ name would be DJ Nutella.

Half-Life 2: The Orange Box came out for the xbox so I’m now finally getting to play it. I had read reviews that stated such things as “I envy those of you who haven’t played it before — I wish I could play it again for the first time with fresh eyes”, etc., etc.. There is so much praise heaped on this game that you could take the excess praise and roll a small, bouncy ball out of it.

And yes, it is great. My favorite part so far is Highway 17. My life is just like that chapter in the game. I drive around, get stopped by an obstacle, have to get out of my car and beat down the people creating the obstacle, and then get back in my car and drive again.

However, the real gem in the Orange Box is Portal. The tone is perfect, and when you solve the puzzles you feel smart. Also free cake pops out of your TV when you finish the game. I thought this was a technical impossibility, but it somehow happened.

What are you doing this week? Me, I’m going to the library.

Götterdämmerung

October 7th, 2007Blog2 comments

New iPhone commcericals:

Buy an iPhone or you will be consigned to a life of boredom and irritation

Buy an iPhone or your girlfriend will be fired

Buy an iPhone or you will have to carry a little bag like a lady

So it looks like iPhone 3rd party app development is going to happen for sure. From what I’ve heard, Apple will be vetting the apps as they are submitted and then they will be sold/distributed through iTunes.

I wouldn’t mind developing an app for the iPhone. Maybe a recipe manager or a calculator. What would also be great is a Steve Jobs soundboard. “What do you do for me here at Apple…? Nothing?.. YOU’RE FIRED!”

I think I’ve perfected my Japanese Hamburg Steak recipe. It’s pretty great. Whenever I try a new recipe I always accept the fact that the first try is probably going to need work. The second attempt is OK, and then, like Microsoft, the third time’s the charm.

Something I’ve learned this weekend: Nutella is the greatest substance ever created by humans. The End.

Invocation

October 3rd, 2007Blog0 comments

Currently reading:

I had a craving for a post-apocalyptic sci-fi steampunk neo-Victorian/feudalist fictional autobiographical war story and Fitzpatrick’s War fit the bill. I’m tearing through this one like crazy.

One of the virtues of a good sci-fi novel is that it feeds you a constant IV drip of delicious sci-fi factoids. Fitzpatrick’s War is full of these tender nuggets. Example: A scene in which the gang of protagonist moustache-twisters watch 20th century basketball on a 500 year-old reel of film (the book takes place in the 25th century).

The best part about good sci-fi novels is that they give your imagination a good leaping off point. Your brain fills in the appearance of a neo-gilded age dining hall crowded with 2000 cadets. A movie could attempt the same thing but it would never be as good as you could make it.

I read somewhere that when you read a novel, you temporarily surrender your consciousness to a narrator, let them invoke ideas and thoughts in place of your own. It’s an experience that you really can’t get anywhere else. In every other medium things are shown or otherwise presented to you ad hoc, but in reading you are presented thoughts and asked to think alongside the storyteller. This is good stuff.

I’ve been busy lately. Writing this treatment now, doing revisions on another project, and at the same time I totally cleaned out my kitchen. Got this excellent new dishrack from SimpleHuman. I need to go to the hardware store to get it some elevated “feet” since my sink rises about a centimeter over the counter top and I need to raise the rack up so that water spouts properly into the sink.

I like being busy. I like feeling useful.