Nick has something like this on his blog. I wonder if that's where he got it from. Oh, the strip is from Clan of the Cats, a Wiccan webcomic. No, I'm not normally given to perusing pagan fiction, but it's quite good.
Monday, December 30, 2002
See, yesterday I was told that I'd be going to a barbecue. I was wondering how Uncle Jim would manage a barbecue at the tail end of December. I thought maybe it was one of those joke 'summer in winter' theme party things or something. But no, it was just a hotpot.
Those Chinese things where you set a pot of boiling water on a portable heater on the top of the table, and everyone sits around and tosses raw stuff into it, like thin slices of beef, stuffed fishballs, squid, shrimp, tofu, tofu skin, leafy vegetables, carrots, taro root, and noodles. You can ladle it up again from the water when it's cooked with a little wire net (there are different nets and different chopsticks for the raw and cooked foods). And you put it in your bowl, which is filled with a sauce of some sort, though at some hotpots you can crack an egg into your bowl, so that when you put the hot food into your bowl and stir it into the yolk, it cooks the egg, and you have a sort of batter on your food.
I still like barbecues better. For one thing, hotpots make me feel rather discombobulated hanging out with a bunch of old Chinese people.
Those Chinese things where you set a pot of boiling water on a portable heater on the top of the table, and everyone sits around and tosses raw stuff into it, like thin slices of beef, stuffed fishballs, squid, shrimp, tofu, tofu skin, leafy vegetables, carrots, taro root, and noodles. You can ladle it up again from the water when it's cooked with a little wire net (there are different nets and different chopsticks for the raw and cooked foods). And you put it in your bowl, which is filled with a sauce of some sort, though at some hotpots you can crack an egg into your bowl, so that when you put the hot food into your bowl and stir it into the yolk, it cooks the egg, and you have a sort of batter on your food.
I still like barbecues better. For one thing, hotpots make me feel rather discombobulated hanging out with a bunch of old Chinese people.
Had dinner with my sisters and brothers-in-law on Christmas Eve.
You know how people are all nostalgic for home cooking?
Well, I'm not.
But all the giving of useless gifts was heartwarming ("It warms the cockles of my heart!") and amusing. Let's see. My parents got (see, except for me, all the giving and receiving was done in pairs, based on the couple) ... a pair of glass winebottle stoppers and some perfume. Stella and Jonathan got... a belt that didn't fit Stella, a cookbook, and a pair of pink handblown glass Christmas ornaments. Maggie and Dong got... a belt for Maggie that she hasn't tried on yet, and some other random glass things (more bottle stoppers, I think? Maybe they were covers for something). I got a wooden jewelry box for jewelry I don't have, and Trivial Pursuit, which I have no one to play with.
None of this will actually be used.
Still. A nice thought.
You know how people are all nostalgic for home cooking?
Well, I'm not.
But all the giving of useless gifts was heartwarming ("It warms the cockles of my heart!") and amusing. Let's see. My parents got (see, except for me, all the giving and receiving was done in pairs, based on the couple) ... a pair of glass winebottle stoppers and some perfume. Stella and Jonathan got... a belt that didn't fit Stella, a cookbook, and a pair of pink handblown glass Christmas ornaments. Maggie and Dong got... a belt for Maggie that she hasn't tried on yet, and some other random glass things (more bottle stoppers, I think? Maybe they were covers for something). I got a wooden jewelry box for jewelry I don't have, and Trivial Pursuit, which I have no one to play with.
None of this will actually be used.
Still. A nice thought.
Tuesday, December 24, 2002
Hitting the Uptown on Thursday for the 2:50 LotR. Have bought tickets from Fandango. (Fandango!) Yes, I'm a dork. Don't give me the 'I have no time' excuses which I am sick of hearing, as blameless as you all are. :( If you can go, say you can. If you can't, say nothing.
Later
It was quite good, despite me waiting in line in the cold. I hadn't realized I'd be waiting outside in line.. bah, I'm too used to multiplexes. I had a frappacino waiting outside. But no, I did not go to the bathroom during the movie. Anyways. Ahh.. Aragorn. There was a person with a laser pointer though, so at times Theoden would suddenly be sporting a bindi. (I'm not sure how to use that word in an actual sentence, but the point is, he looked hella stupid and it was distracting). The first part of T2T was a lot less boring the second time around, and the Arwen parts no longer seemed as intrusive, and yes, the plot flowed better. I could notice more things. This was an older crowd, and more decorous (with the exception of the anonymous laser wielder) but less given to spontaneous applause.. no Legolas fangirls here to applaud for his horse-riding tricks, or his snowboarding tricks, though there were two girls wearing elf-ears. Poor Legolas. I felt like such an idiot clapping alone. Being the Uptown, it's pretty much impossible to get the whole theater clapping, like at Regal.
Oh, the Very Secret Diaries are being updated again.
GO ME!
Later
It was quite good, despite me waiting in line in the cold. I hadn't realized I'd be waiting outside in line.. bah, I'm too used to multiplexes. I had a frappacino waiting outside. But no, I did not go to the bathroom during the movie. Anyways. Ahh.. Aragorn. There was a person with a laser pointer though, so at times Theoden would suddenly be sporting a bindi. (I'm not sure how to use that word in an actual sentence, but the point is, he looked hella stupid and it was distracting). The first part of T2T was a lot less boring the second time around, and the Arwen parts no longer seemed as intrusive, and yes, the plot flowed better. I could notice more things. This was an older crowd, and more decorous (with the exception of the anonymous laser wielder) but less given to spontaneous applause.. no Legolas fangirls here to applaud for his horse-riding tricks, or his snowboarding tricks, though there were two girls wearing elf-ears. Poor Legolas. I felt like such an idiot clapping alone. Being the Uptown, it's pretty much impossible to get the whole theater clapping, like at Regal.
Oh, the Very Secret Diaries are being updated again.
GO ME!
Friday
Saw LotR, spent with Jen making comments about how many times Aragorn washes his hair and oohing at his general hotness, but also wanting to smack a certain Lisa for talking constantly during the movie (even more than I am prone to do).
Then went to get Andrew a thong at Lakeforest with Alex, Jen and Anika. Agreed on Aragorn's general hotness. More later.
Saturday
Went Mall hopping with my mom at White Flint. Happiness abounds. More later.
Sunday
Went to New York with my family for a family friend's birthday. Much more later.
Later
I love car rides. There's something about being able to see far into the distance that you don't get normally sitting still, or even with a plane, because you're so high up. Although the ground next to you flashes by there'll be a clump of trees thousands of feet in the distance that just doesn't move, as if the world were flat and turning on an axis. The sound of cars alongside you isn't one you'll find anywhere else.. not on planes or on foot, or normal driving. It's a sound of speed and thunder, (which would be a good title for a bad book). But honestly, it's a unique experience, especially if you remember that cars and highways are a very new invention given the length of human history, and very exclusive too. Because they're so common in the US people don't treat them like a novelty, but the fact that we can take something so amazing for granted makes the feat even more impressive. Also, along a highway, if you're going faster than another car and pulling past it, you can imagine that you're staying still and the other car and the rest of the world are all sliding backwards under you. It's not like planes. You can feel yourself moving, and you can see the landscape changing. And on skyways and suspension bridges where you fly over rooftops and other cars and see the whole sprawl of a city or the length of a river snaking away under you, that's more flight than watching the same motionless grid of land beside an airplane wing from a porthole for hours on end.
And of course, New York is amazing at night. I was going to Queens, but because my dad/New Yorkers are crazy drivers, we'd be shooting at 70mph through tunnels and under causeways where the speed and thunder (tm) would echo along the walls, and there would be buildings and people right above you like you were zooming through the canals of some sugar-crazy Venice at night, and you'd flash by lights, some close, some in the distance over the dark and invisible water. You can imagine that the far city is just a large plate of pinpoints of light hovering in the middle of space. And looking at the far city over the sea I was wondering what it was, until I realized from the small outline of the Empire State Building and the Chrystler Building that I was staring at the south side of Manhattan.
It no longer looks like the south side of Manhattan.
...
We went to the Terrace on the Park in Queens (which looks like a crazy giant tripod- the Terrace, not Queens), but we were delayed because my dad was afraid of driving through a 'ghetto' neighborhood at night. There was food, champaigne, dancing that looked like it belonged to an Old Folks' Cruise.... me and my parents went to a friend's house to stay the night, in suburbia which looked so much like home. I could make a left, and I'd be in Maryland again. Some people find suburban conformity to be depressing, but to me it was a comfort, though tiny, tiny things are different. When we woke up in the morning, it was snowing, and it was cold.
Saw LotR, spent with Jen making comments about how many times Aragorn washes his hair and oohing at his general hotness, but also wanting to smack a certain Lisa for talking constantly during the movie (even more than I am prone to do).
Then went to get Andrew a thong at Lakeforest with Alex, Jen and Anika. Agreed on Aragorn's general hotness. More later.
Saturday
Went Mall hopping with my mom at White Flint. Happiness abounds. More later.
Sunday
Went to New York with my family for a family friend's birthday. Much more later.
Later
I love car rides. There's something about being able to see far into the distance that you don't get normally sitting still, or even with a plane, because you're so high up. Although the ground next to you flashes by there'll be a clump of trees thousands of feet in the distance that just doesn't move, as if the world were flat and turning on an axis. The sound of cars alongside you isn't one you'll find anywhere else.. not on planes or on foot, or normal driving. It's a sound of speed and thunder, (which would be a good title for a bad book). But honestly, it's a unique experience, especially if you remember that cars and highways are a very new invention given the length of human history, and very exclusive too. Because they're so common in the US people don't treat them like a novelty, but the fact that we can take something so amazing for granted makes the feat even more impressive. Also, along a highway, if you're going faster than another car and pulling past it, you can imagine that you're staying still and the other car and the rest of the world are all sliding backwards under you. It's not like planes. You can feel yourself moving, and you can see the landscape changing. And on skyways and suspension bridges where you fly over rooftops and other cars and see the whole sprawl of a city or the length of a river snaking away under you, that's more flight than watching the same motionless grid of land beside an airplane wing from a porthole for hours on end.
And of course, New York is amazing at night. I was going to Queens, but because my dad/New Yorkers are crazy drivers, we'd be shooting at 70mph through tunnels and under causeways where the speed and thunder (tm) would echo along the walls, and there would be buildings and people right above you like you were zooming through the canals of some sugar-crazy Venice at night, and you'd flash by lights, some close, some in the distance over the dark and invisible water. You can imagine that the far city is just a large plate of pinpoints of light hovering in the middle of space. And looking at the far city over the sea I was wondering what it was, until I realized from the small outline of the Empire State Building and the Chrystler Building that I was staring at the south side of Manhattan.
It no longer looks like the south side of Manhattan.
...
We went to the Terrace on the Park in Queens (which looks like a crazy giant tripod- the Terrace, not Queens), but we were delayed because my dad was afraid of driving through a 'ghetto' neighborhood at night. There was food, champaigne, dancing that looked like it belonged to an Old Folks' Cruise.... me and my parents went to a friend's house to stay the night, in suburbia which looked so much like home. I could make a left, and I'd be in Maryland again. Some people find suburban conformity to be depressing, but to me it was a comfort, though tiny, tiny things are different. When we woke up in the morning, it was snowing, and it was cold.
Sunday, December 15, 2002
So, I did end up seeing Treasure Planet with just Sharon because Silvia ran off to the post office by the Regal and never joined us in the theater. It was a great movie in terms of character development. The dialogue between Jim and Silver was outstanding, Captain whatsherface is the best female Disney character I've seen in.. well, ever.. and Jim's mom.. look! A Disney character has a mom! Among the best animated films I've seen for characters.
And very pretty. The backgrounds and camera angles were mindblowing, and the designs and concepts were super cool. Of course, me and Sharon are both airship freaks.. aaahh... it's like what the Final Fantasy movie should've been like. I thought the foregrounds looked like Saturday morning cartoons, which was unfortunate because it made the trailers look like crap and hence Treasure Planet is hemorraging money as liddle kiddies go to see 8 Mile.
It's very depressing.
Zifei, my friend and a student animator at Bingham Young University was trying to convince me how the foreground animation was actually a work of genius and totally, totally unlike a Saturday morning cartoon you blashemous heathen, but I remain unconvinced.
Okay, so Silver's hand was really cool.
I just think the shot below looks dumb, and foreground shots of just the characters are typical. I mean, the back (in this case, the railing of the ship and stuff) look great. I'll take Ziffie's word for it that a lot of work went into this and that Saturday morning cartoons could never reach this amount of detail, but, as a movie watcher, not a moviemaker, would you spend $9 on a movie based on trailers that look like this?
And very pretty. The backgrounds and camera angles were mindblowing, and the designs and concepts were super cool. Of course, me and Sharon are both airship freaks.. aaahh... it's like what the Final Fantasy movie should've been like. I thought the foregrounds looked like Saturday morning cartoons, which was unfortunate because it made the trailers look like crap and hence Treasure Planet is hemorraging money as liddle kiddies go to see 8 Mile.
It's very depressing.
Zifei, my friend and a student animator at Bingham Young University was trying to convince me how the foreground animation was actually a work of genius and totally, totally unlike a Saturday morning cartoon you blashemous heathen, but I remain unconvinced.
Okay, so Silver's hand was really cool.
I just think the shot below looks dumb, and foreground shots of just the characters are typical. I mean, the back (in this case, the railing of the ship and stuff) look great. I'll take Ziffie's word for it that a lot of work went into this and that Saturday morning cartoons could never reach this amount of detail, but, as a movie watcher, not a moviemaker, would you spend $9 on a movie based on trailers that look like this?
But.. Zifei calls the above the most impressive feat of animation of all time, and I can't say I can disagree with him, so, uh, do watch the movie. Oh, all the pictures above were stolen from Pathea.com, his website. Don't steal them. Well.. I mean.. more than I have already. Blah.
No, I did not go see Nemesis. Do you know why?
Because somebody was not at the Broadway Diner at 6.. or six oh five.. or six ten... or six fifteen... or six twenty... and this same someone had also, according to a Malex at six twenty, not updated his blog about a change of plan and this same someone was also not at Potbelly's, CalTor, Ben and Jerry's, or Tara Asia. He was never at Tara Asia, according to Scott Church, who was there, but not for Nemesis. And not at the Broadway Diner at 7. I called Nick to get an answering machine and Jen to get nothing at all (since she couldn't go, I found out later, and was out with her parents).
I was rather pissed.
Apparently, Jen had called me at five, and gotten my machine. Mwahaha. Call-age.
I ended up going off to Fortune Star buffet with my parents and eating a lot of really fattening foods and a variety of sushi. And then we went Christmas shopping at Monkey Mall.
I have a new cape and a beret.
Look! I'm an artiste!
Because somebody was not at the Broadway Diner at 6.. or six oh five.. or six ten... or six fifteen... or six twenty... and this same someone had also, according to a Malex at six twenty, not updated his blog about a change of plan and this same someone was also not at Potbelly's, CalTor, Ben and Jerry's, or Tara Asia. He was never at Tara Asia, according to Scott Church, who was there, but not for Nemesis. And not at the Broadway Diner at 7. I called Nick to get an answering machine and Jen to get nothing at all (since she couldn't go, I found out later, and was out with her parents).
I was rather pissed.
Apparently, Jen had called me at five, and gotten my machine. Mwahaha. Call-age.
I ended up going off to Fortune Star buffet with my parents and eating a lot of really fattening foods and a variety of sushi. And then we went Christmas shopping at Monkey Mall.
I have a new cape and a beret.
Look! I'm an artiste!
Wednesday, December 11, 2002
LOOK, everyone! I have a new reader! It's Sharon! Since like.. three people read my blog.. this is actually something of a novelty.
No, not the Object Of Hank's Affection Sharon.
This Sharon is our resident elf. Say hello.
No, not the Object Of Hank's Affection Sharon.
This Sharon is our resident elf. Say hello.
Tuesday, December 10, 2002
Gamers' Club actually did something on Monday. I was pleasantly surprised. We're starting Starblade, which is "A LARP for the Gamers' Club of Richard Montgomery High School Designed by: Humza Kazmi." He's our spastic DM.
"In 720 DR, in the lands of the Bitter Sea, war broke out, embroiling all the powers there in a titanic struggle, lasting for five years. The Empire of Riva, a power to the south, attempted to stop the war, and peace talks finished twelve years ago. Now, the region has been thrown into turmoil once more, and Riva is now attempting to prevent a second war from ripping apart the Bitter Sea lands. An emergency conference has been called on the neutral island of Starblade. Now, will war once more break out amongst the Seven Nations, or will a new era of peace dawn? It is up for you to decide."
Rightyo, a conference. But without coffee or donuts. I'm glad this version of LARPing doesn't involve running around with cardboard shields hitting people with foam swords, or I would've walked out. So now, instead of pretending to be saving the world in the midst of adventures and epic battles, we can save the world through talking... and talking.. and talking.. Sounds good to me!
I am, with a guy named Han, representing "Ssi'Morgya," the nation of Merchants. Now, first of all.. what sort of freakish name is "Sissy Morgeeyuh," or "Smorgy"? Goddammit. Secondly. We're Neutral Evil. I find it to be an annoying and hypocritical fantasy convention that Merchants are always evil, when a good deal of writers are from the US, which basically is the merchant nation. Silly. It's the whole dumbass "money/capitalism is evil" thing coming through. Alex!! Give 'em a smackdown!!
I'd like a name like "The Barony of Montcalm" which is a nation of Cavaliers. I can understand a mage-o-cratic nation (whateva.. thaumacracy?), a knightly order with governmental powers, a seafaring nation, a Viking nation, and an elven nation (even though Elven is a race, not an occupation... RACIAL STEREOTYPING, I SAY!) but a nation founded on a bunch of people poking each other with swords and yelling in French.. seems very odd.
"In 720 DR, in the lands of the Bitter Sea, war broke out, embroiling all the powers there in a titanic struggle, lasting for five years. The Empire of Riva, a power to the south, attempted to stop the war, and peace talks finished twelve years ago. Now, the region has been thrown into turmoil once more, and Riva is now attempting to prevent a second war from ripping apart the Bitter Sea lands. An emergency conference has been called on the neutral island of Starblade. Now, will war once more break out amongst the Seven Nations, or will a new era of peace dawn? It is up for you to decide."
Rightyo, a conference. But without coffee or donuts. I'm glad this version of LARPing doesn't involve running around with cardboard shields hitting people with foam swords, or I would've walked out. So now, instead of pretending to be saving the world in the midst of adventures and epic battles, we can save the world through talking... and talking.. and talking.. Sounds good to me!
I am, with a guy named Han, representing "Ssi'Morgya," the nation of Merchants. Now, first of all.. what sort of freakish name is "Sissy Morgeeyuh," or "Smorgy"? Goddammit. Secondly. We're Neutral Evil. I find it to be an annoying and hypocritical fantasy convention that Merchants are always evil, when a good deal of writers are from the US, which basically is the merchant nation. Silly. It's the whole dumbass "money/capitalism is evil" thing coming through. Alex!! Give 'em a smackdown!!
I'd like a name like "The Barony of Montcalm" which is a nation of Cavaliers. I can understand a mage-o-cratic nation (whateva.. thaumacracy?), a knightly order with governmental powers, a seafaring nation, a Viking nation, and an elven nation (even though Elven is a race, not an occupation... RACIAL STEREOTYPING, I SAY!) but a nation founded on a bunch of people poking each other with swords and yelling in French.. seems very odd.
I think the meetings are better now that we're actually doing crap, and Andrew Durfor is coming and I'm getting to know Mary better.
Mary is, for those of you who don't know her, a freshman who goes to Archaeology and also is a major fan of Harry Potter and LotR, being one of those people who actually call it, when they are speaking, "El-oh-tee-ar." She despises slash. She reads 8 Bit Theater. With Andrew, a new era of geekdom for me has dawned! MWAHAHAHA!
Nick. She has brown hair.
Nick was bored with Fellowship, which he watched independently. Bah. But now that I know he doesn't care, I no longer have to invite him to any Lord of the Rings' Watching Sessions, meaning I can hold them on Fridays if I so wish. Why anyone would want to watch Star Trek: Nemesis but not The Two Towers is beyond me.
Mary is, for those of you who don't know her, a freshman who goes to Archaeology and also is a major fan of Harry Potter and LotR, being one of those people who actually call it, when they are speaking, "El-oh-tee-ar." She despises slash. She reads 8 Bit Theater. With Andrew, a new era of geekdom for me has dawned! MWAHAHAHA!
Nick. She has brown hair.
Nick was bored with Fellowship, which he watched independently. Bah. But now that I know he doesn't care, I no longer have to invite him to any Lord of the Rings' Watching Sessions, meaning I can hold them on Fridays if I so wish. Why anyone would want to watch Star Trek: Nemesis but not The Two Towers is beyond me.
Saturday, December 07, 2002
Went sledding with Alex today, or yesterday at Wood, if you will, since it's after 12 midnight now. It was a rather ungratifying experience, since it's neither as thrilling as a roller coaster or as joyously gleeful as a swing or a seesaw, and plus, I kept getting snow down my boots and it was a pain to drag Alex's toboggan uphill all the time. I suppose as people get older they're amused by different things, but I don't think I'm losing my childhood. I never really went sledding as a child; perhaps sledding is merely overhyped as a 'gleeful childhood activity.'
We walked to my house over unshoveled sidewalks (which made me feel guilty for not shovelling my sidewalk) and watched the Lord of the Rings extended and new scenes, which was gleefully joyous.
We walked to my house over unshoveled sidewalks (which made me feel guilty for not shovelling my sidewalk) and watched the Lord of the Rings extended and new scenes, which was gleefully joyous.
Friday, December 06, 2002
Wednesday, December 04, 2002
Is anyone interested in watching Treasure Planet at the Regal at 2:20 on either Friday or Monday? It's only an hour and 30 minutes long, so it'll be over by around four or so. I know people don't have a lot of time to spare, so give me times that're good for you. Also, I'll need a driver, who I'll be willing to pay "fare" for if they're not interested in actually watching the movie.
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