Livin' like Fable

I finally sketched what I want my tattoo to look like. It's rough--I still have to figure out the shading and coloring--but it's got all the basic elements, and the ankh is dead perfect.

Anyway, have a look, y'all, and hit me back with what you think. I'm kind of excited, myself. :)



EDIT: Forgot to mention locale. The tat's going here:



UPDATE: I'll be visiting Tony Morrell at Jinx Proof Tattoos, provided I can get an appointment. He comes highly recommended from a coworker who's had quite a bit of work done, herself.

Pretty

Millions of fireworks, each exploding in one final shower of glory before vanishing from existence forever.

That's the image that played in my head as we drove home tonight. The official soundtrack for the movie consisted of conversations I had at dinner with the American University crowd. How thinking you're a superhero and being one isn't really all that different. How Will-I-Am is Will-I-Ain't present in the market. How to finger-pop olives.

I thought about seeing Sean! again, about how things change, about how things don't. I thought about how much I enjoy surprises, and how laughter come so easily. I thought about laughing alone in a field.

I thought about the tattoo I'm going to get--the one of the joker with the ansated iron-cross tattoo. I thought about how important symbolism can be, if what you think doesn't always fit into words. I thought about how important self-control is. I thought briefly of my brother--and then I played with the dogs.

I thought about awkward brownies.

Doodles from the Dark Side

Brought to you by yet another pointless meeting...



I'm really glad we take the time to share our useless drivel once a week. I mean, just look at the level of detail on that rabbox.

Freya inadvertently put a gun to my head

And made me do a bad, bad thing.

Google image search meme. Search for your answer for each one, and pick your favorite from the first 3 pages.

Your first name:

Your middle name:

Your last name:

Your age:

A place you would like to visit:

Your favorite place to be:


The name of a past love:

Your college degree or concentration:

Your grandmother's first name:

Where you grew up:

Your childhood pet's name:

Your best friend's nickname:

Your first job:

Your favorite food:

Your favorite color:

What you are doing right now:

One of your bad habits:

Sotto Voce

Finally posting as an original soul (being drunk puts you in touch with who you really wanna be). And so I write...

So I kind of wish Tropic Thunder was awesome in a contextual super-elevated sort of way, but it was much overt in its worth. (Then again, subtlety usually gets past me, so maybe this is the only way I'll enjoy a film). Robert Downey Jr. delivered a star performance as an Australian introspection that rivaled Crocodile Dundee in its inaccuracy and amusement. Jack Black was perfect in his heroin-fueled hotheadedness, and I have to say that I hate Tom Cruise and Ben Stiller a little less for their work in this flick.

Caitlin, Rick and I did poker at the Ferguson's place (Lauren and Mason--cute couple--and thar neighbors doing a little gambling). I finally won, taking a grand pot of about 35 dollars. After Burger King, that left me with $20 in winnings. I was happy.

Then we drove home, and I could not. stop. laughing. Constant hiccuping high-pitched squeaking. I have never laughed so hard (and I'm pretty sure it was over complete nonsense. Mildly ironic satiric commentary is much funnier when you're in the right place). Rick and Jeremy both had me in stitches (Caitlin, my dear and trusted wife, was good enough to drive my sorry ass home).

SPEAKING of sorry asses, we saw Tropic Thunder tonight and it was surprisingly funny. There were several scenes that just caught me off guard, and the more routine plot elements were cleverly done. Not a bad game--and I definitely recommended it to my friends.

So I need to remind all the AU crowd to use Anyvite for their party invitations in the future. It still sucks to see them using Evite on occasion, just because Evite is so awkward to work with. It's really more trouble than its worth, and I'd love to see the superior specimen win out on this one. I suppose I'll see.

Mmm...specimens, evolution, Spore and Fable II. I'm so excited for all the video games coming out soon. It promises to be an excellent fall.

So, in summation....great night, great friends, great opportunities and experiences. Good night and good luck, Seattle.

OH! New office and the fantasy football draft that I finally enjoyed...more news to follow.

A Game of Chance

Pub Games. Poker night. Softball practice. Studying code.

Some obvious connections, some obscure. It reminds me of a sensation I used to experience in college. Jeff and I would frequent a coffee bar called the Espressery, and there we would play many games of chess. Two, three games in a sitting. After an hour of pondering the possibilities on the board (rook takes knight, bishop to guard the queen, trap that one behind the pawns), I realized that life can be regarded in a similar way (finish ThinkProgress updates tonight, leave tomorrow open for the softball playoffs, take the evening for celebrating with drinks). Steps, and the pathes they lead us down, working toward a common goal. Dominate. Succeed. Win.

I spent about an hour this evening reading old LJ posts (softball practice was canceled since we're short enough players to field BP). I read through the roughest times with a particular relish...there were days when I really thought things couldn't get worse and wouldn't get better. I'm very glad I turned out to be wrong on both counts--the depth of horrible experiences gives one breadth of character, and the salve of wonderful events teach us that there is always more than the moment.

Rereading the old posts had a secondary effect I didn't expect. It reminded me of fire. Youthful passion, some would call it--overcompensating chemicals of teen existence is as good a label. I used to be much, much more intense.

Evidenced by the fact that it's fantasy football draft time. I think I'd like to win this year. :D

Hmm...useful

Ratio calculator from The Continuum. Even the name is cool.

In a non-technical field but still filed under "Useful." One of the Penn State boys, Jeff Morin, recently made a play at success with Anyvite, an extremely easy-to-use social event manager. Having wasted several hours over email with Evite's less-than-helpful staff, I'd pretty much resigned myself to living with annoyance. Evite does a terrible job of handling contacts (remembering, importing, saving, grouping) and is largely built to drive page hits (ever wonder why you can't RSVP right from the email? That'd be why).

Anyvite's a breath of fresh air. It's simple and straightforward while adding features I didn't even think I'd need. Event feeds keep you posted on what's going on in your social circles. It even caters to the indecisive: Anyvite lets you resurrect canceled events and reschedule them.

I'm trying really hard not to sound like I'm advertising, but fact is, I watch enough TV to subconciously mimic commercials when I want to relate a good product. So forgive me my banter, or don't, but check out Anyvite. You'll wonder how you ever used anything else. (Dammit.)

National Music Video Day

Flobots - Handlebars