Previously, in Trip's Life...
30 September 2008 - Tuesday
Work: Finishing upu, finishing upu, la la la.
Gaming: I tried to find a tool that will take input
and write out HTML or PDF of a D&D4 monster stat block for custom
monsters, but the only one I found knelt before M$.
Visual Entertainments: Conclusion of Dennou
Coil! It was fairly conclusive! Also, Gurren Lagann
is still silly, Shakugan no Shana seems to have finished
the backstory arc, and Simoun is still pretty.
Silly Computer Games: La la la.
Cats:
Twelve paws!
Writing: Blargh.
Make a comment!
29 September 2008 - Monday
Work: Apparently my contract is up after Thursday.
Ah well.
Gaming: FAILURE.
Visual Entertainments: FAILURE.
Silly Computer Games: Hah, I made it past level 30 in
loops of
zen! (It starts over with a small board, but using a different level
generator, which I find generates more difficult levels.)
Cats:
Ghirardelli frolicked quite adorably with the new sheets and tussled
Marmalade through a sheet and was generally cute!
Writing: Blargh.
Make a comment!
28 September 2008 - Sunday
Gaming: Finally Ken is in town and not dead and we can
play Thrace! This session, Resi and Erianthe tried to take over the town,
and then we fought goblins and fell into holes and Lycoris got all stabbed
again, but toasted a suitable number of goblins.
Visual Entertainments: Another episode of
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Hm, that's not
looking good for the good guys.
Food: Dim sum at the place on Castro for brunch, and
Ken made raviolis and summer squash with bacon and cauliflower with red
pepper as a break from abusing our characters.
Silly Computer Games: More loops of zen.
I am starting to get the hang of it, although there is still a lot of
doinking around aimlessly to get the last two free ends to connect.
Cats:
Twelve paws!
Writing: Blargh.
Make a comment!
27 September 2008 - Saturday
Gaming: FAILURE.
Food: Yummy Thai lunch!
Silly Computer Games: For no readily apparent reason,
my DSL line is back to normal levels of suckage today, so I was able to try
out loops of
zen. (It's regis's
fault.)
Make a comment!
26 September 2008 - Friday
Work: Apparently the 2nd of next month will be my
last day at vmWare, as they can't get budget for contractors any more.
Ah well.
Random Encounters: Ran into Eric and Cat in the
bookstore (Earl was allegedly somewhere around, but I didn't see him).
Failed to go to dinner with them for reasons that can each and all be
summarized as "Trip sucks completely".
Gaming: FAILURE.
Visual Entertainments: Couple more episodes of
T:SCC. Still entertaining, although the voiceovers are kind
of cheesy.
Food: Carnitas burrito. Yum.
Silly Computer Games: Blargh. Complained to the
company that ate Idiom about my DSL line. Perhaps they will fix it.
Perhaps not.
Cats:
Twelve adorable paws!
Writing: Blargh.
Reassurance by marith (Sun Sep 28 00:55:48 2008)
Dear fellow readers of Trip's web page,
Rest assured, the glorious lizard empire is on top of the situation. Every time Trip posts an entry containing a measurable quantity of self-hatred, a corresponding amount of oppression is administered by saurian agents in the form of hugs, stern poking, reasoned argument, confiscation of illicit doom caches, and (when necessary) threats of space penguins.
However, we feel that oppression works best when aimed from multiple sources. Enclosed please find your complimentary Virtual Thonkbat of soft foam, handy for use in bonking space parasites on the head whenever you feel it advisable. Have fun, and remember, picking on Trip builds character! (1)
(1) Feats not included. Florning available as cross-class skill.
Re: Reassurance by Trip (Sun Sep 28 20:58:34 2008)
HMPH!
Make a comment!
25 September 2008 - Thursday
Work: I'm getting toward the end of like three
different projects. Blargh.
Gaming: FAILURE. And now everyone in the Ptolus game
thinks I suck.
Visual Entertainments: First episode of
Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles borrowed from Earl. Summer
Glau makes a fine terminator, although it is terribly unfair to
<rot13>chg ure guebhtu n Grezvangbe-havirefr gvzr
whzc</rot13> and then abide by the FCC restrictions on what can
be shown on TV. Nevertheless, I will keep watching.
Silly Computer Games: Blargh. Still no net.
Cats:
Twelve paws!
Writing: I can write without net, but it's not clear
this actually improves the world.
Make a comment!
24 September 2008 - Wednesday
Work: La la la.
Gaming: FAILURE.
Visual Entertainments: Last three episodes of The
Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi! There was much discussion concerning
certain differences between the chronologically-first six episodes and the
rest, and why certain events seem to have been forgotten about. Earl's
theory seems reasonable.
Next, hopefully, xxxHolic.
Silly Computer Games: Blargh. Can't play on-line
games because network connection sucks the PMW.
Cats:
Twelve paws!
Writing: Suckage and failure.
Make a comment!
23 September 2008 - Tuesday
Work: La la la.
Gaming: FAILURE.
Visual Entertainments: The reburned episode 23 of
Dennou Coil worked, yay. Oh the doom! Two more episodes
left!
Simoun is still pretty (and doomed), Gurren
Lagann is still wacky (and probably doomed), Shakugan no
Shana has the doomed backstory of doom.
Doooooooooom!
Food: I think I may need to reduce my standard
burger order even further.
Silly Computer Games: Blargh.
Cats:
Twelve paws!
Writing: Wum.
Make a comment!
22 September 2008 - Monday
Work: Monday already?!
Gaming: FAILURE.
Visual Entertainments: FAILURE.
Silly Computer Games: I only made it to level 33 in BTD.
Bah!
Cats:
Twelve paws, who have forgiven me for leaving them all weekend!
Writing: Tiny suckful writing.
BTD by Jeremy (Tue Sep 23 22:53:45 2008)
I was actually getting something done tonight, darn it!
Re: BTD by Trip (Thu Sep 25 09:00:53 2008)
I made it up to level 40 once! Sadly, the super-monkey did not save me.
Make a comment!
21 September 2008 - Sunday
Random Encounters: When Al drove Dave and I to meet
Ayse and Ken in Davis, we met Ken's sister's dog, who is very up-jumpy
but not too slobbery.
Gaming: Argh, I failed to notice the other stash of
used gaming books in Viking Hobby until we were just about to flee.
Visual Entertainments: FAILURE.
Silly Computer Games: Curse you, Al! Curse
you!
Cats:
Yay! Still twelve paws!
Writing: Blargh.
Make a comment!
20 September 2008 - Saturday
Gaming: Check! We drove up to Roseville to play
Al's Ptolus game, and our PCs were tremendously successful. The noble
who hired us to spy on the drug dealer learned what he wanted and got
his magic statue back, the drug dealer got his daughter's remains and
his Evil Pocketwatch (although for slightly more than he had planned to
pay), the magic statue was rescued, the slaves were freed, and the other
gangsters never got a good look at our faces. It would have been better
if the Evil Pocketwatch had not gotten back into circulation, but at
least now people who are of high enough level to do something about it
know what's going on.
This was all due to my character's clever planning, of course. That's
my story and I'm sticking to it.
After Ayse and Ken ran off to visit Ken's sister in Davis, I
demonstrated 4th edition on for Al and Sherilyn. They
were properly admiring of how much faster combats are.
Visual Entertainments: VACATION.
Food: Check.
Silly Computer Games: None!
Cats:
I hope they are okay!
Writing: VACATION.
Make a comment!
19 September 2008 - Friday
Work: MySQL bows to my will!
Gaming: FAILURE.
Visual Entertainments: FAILURE.
Food: Hm, the chile verde burrito was not quite what
I wanted.
Silly Computer Games: Blargh.
Cats:
Twelve adorable paws!
Writing: Blargh.
Make a comment!
18 September 2008 - Thursday
Work: Blargh.
Gaming: FAILURE.
Visual Entertainments: FAILURE.
Silly Computer Games: Blargh.
Cats:
Twelve paws!
Writing: Writing is hard. Writing less suckfully is
even harder.
Make a comment!
17 September 2008 - Wednesday
Work: Oh, that's why that thing doesn't work: the
two pieces are looking at completely different tables. Sheesh.
Gaming: FAILURE: Ken is still out of
town, so no Earthdawn for us!
Visual Entertainments: FAILURE.
Silly Computer Games: Blargh.
Cats:
Twelve paws! With purrbucketing!
Writing: If I didn't suck, I would write this thing
for Ayse or that thing for Marith.
Make a comment!
16 September 2008 - Tuesday
Work: Blargh, still sleepy.
Gaming: Borders has yielded up its bounty to me!
Muahahahah!
Visual Entertainments: Simoun is still
pretty and melodramatic, Dennou Coil is ever-increasingly
doomed (although episode 23 crapped out on us), and Shana is
full of explosions and glowing werewolves.
We started Gurren Lagann, which is wacky but
charming.
Silly Computer Games: Not too much, because sacking
Borders took too much time.
Cats:
Twelve paws!
Writing: No progress, because I suck.
Make a comment!
15 September 2008 - Monday
Work: Blargh, sleepy.
Gaming: FAILURE.
Visual Entertainments: FAILURE.
Silly Computer Games: Blargh.
Cats:
Twelve paws!
Writing: I must write a thing back to Ayse! This is
difficult, because I am made of suck and fail, but I will see what I can
do.
Make a comment!
14 September 2008 - Sunday
Gaming: I ran D&D4 for Jeremy, Rachel, and Dave.
They got XP and loot, so presumably they were satisfied. Also, the
kobolds were defeated and their high priestess set on fire.
In 4½ hours, we got through four encounters:
- Level 2 encounter: 1 level 8 monster (this turned out weaker than
two level 4s would have been, because although it always hit and had
high defenses, it still only got one attack per turn)
- Level 2 encounter: 7 level 1 minions and 2 level 1 traps (better,
although still somewhat underwhelming, partly because one of the
traps fizzled pathetically)
- Level 4 encounter: 1 level 3 monster and 3 level 2 monsters (the
level 3 (kobold wyrmpriestess) almost got away with about 2 hp left,
but they chased her down)
- Level 2 encounter: 4 level 1 monsters (by this time the PCs had levelled)
Three is awfully small for a party, so everyone is going to try
making up second characters and we will see how that works. Encounters will
be approximately twice as long, but hopefully they will be at least
twice as exciting.
Visual Entertainments: More Negima!. It
is okay, but not as good as the manga (and no, not just because there's
less fanservice).
Food: Marith and I lured Ayse to Country Gourmet, so we know
she has eaten at least one meal today even though Ken isn't here to cook
for her!
Silly Computer Games: Blargh.
Cats:
Twelve paws!
Writing: Fail.
Make a comment!
13 September 2008 - Saturday
Gaming: Betrayal! I called Borders to see if they
had the Adventurer's Vault and they said they had five copies so I
scuttled down there only to be told that they don't have any copies,
despite what their inventory system says. Bah. Then, they said the
release date is actually Tuesday, not today, so even if they had any,
they wouldn't be able to sell them to me. Apparently the fact that they
sold me something with the same release date yesterday is irrelevant. Or
maybe they're just FULL OF FAIL.
I did get a map drawn for tomorrow, though. Muahahaha.
Visual Entertainments: Another episode of
Negima!.
Food: Further betrayal! Thai City was
closed! They didn't even have a sign explaining why, like they
did when the plumbing exploded! So I had to eat at the Thai place on
University that has the fried sweet potato appetizer.
Silly Computer Games: Yes.
Cats:
Now that there are fewer thermions, the cats are becoming more
affectionate. Marmalade came and purrbucketed me!
Writing: See previous entry.
Make a comment!
12 September 2008 - Friday
Work: Indeed, once I stopped being stupid with data
structures, it all went together nicely. Sheesh.
Gaming: Borders has the Forgotten Realms Player's
Guide on the shelves, but not the Adventurer's Vault, even though they
have the same release date. And of course, the one they don't have
is the one I want most immediately. Bah!
They said maybe they'll have it tomorrow.
Visual Entertainments: The Place Promised in
Our Early Days, which I think is in the same genre of applied
physics and loss as Voices of a Distant Star.
Silly Computer Games: Blargh sudoku blargh.
Cats:
Twelve paws!
Writing: Suck suck fail fail suck suck fail.
Make a comment!
11 September 2008 - Thursday
Work: It really is true that if you design your data
structures well, the rest of the program will fall into place.
Gaming: Apparently I will be running for Jeremy and
Rachel and Dave on Sunday. I should draw up some maps. Maps of DOOOOM!
Visual Entertainments: Labyrinth of
Flame. Presumably the trailer was interesting, or I wouldn't have
put it in my queue, but I can't imagine how an interesting trailer could
have been made from the show. Oh well. At least I'm not staying up all
night watching anime.
Silly Computer Games: Blargh.
Cats:
Ghirardelli is not entirely clean again, but disliked being cleaned that
he did at least a little about it. Meep.
Writing: Suck suck suck, fail fail fail.
Make a comment!
10 September 2008 - Wednesday
Work: My brain hurts. This makes coding less
productive.
Gaming: Rumor has it there will be no Thrace this
Sunday and no Earthdawn next Wednesday. Sniff!
Visual Entertainments: More Melancholy of
Suzumiya Haruhi! This time we got to see <rot13>shgher
Zvxheh</rot13> and also the chronologically last couple of episodes.
Only three left, and then we will have to find something else to watch.
Silly Computer Games: Not too much.
Cats:
Ghirardelli seems reasonably hygenic, but swatted at Marmalade and made
him scarper. You win some, you lose some, I guess.
Cat and Earl's normally-mean cat Maddie sat in Ayse's lap and purred
and purred. Huh.
Writing: Suckage and failitude.
Maddie by cat (Fri Sep 12 18:36:14 2008)
Hey, Maddie's not all mean! It's just her left ventricle that's black. I've been training her to show her right ventricle of gold more, is all. (Her atria are white, of course.)
Re: Maddie by Trip (Sun Sep 14 11:06:23 2008)
Maybe it's just me she doesn't like. I bet Aspen has been telling stories about how I oppress her terribly! :)
re: maddie by cat (Wed Sep 24 15:11:07 2008)
Aw, Maddie likes you! She's just very picky about personal space. =P
Re: maddie by Trip (Thu Sep 25 08:59:33 2008)
She was a lot more friendly this week, it's true!
Make a comment!
9 September 2008 - Tuesday
Work: Codingu codingu la la la.
Gaming: I know what the next three encounters for
"Against the Kobolds" will be, but I have at least a month to write them
up.
Visual Entertainments: Kodocha ended
with a cheesy recap episode. Apparently there is another season in
existence, but I don't know if we'll care enough to hunt it down and
watch it.
Despite the apparent climax last time, Dennou Coil has even
more doom! And only five episodes to go!
Shakugan no Shana is threatening huge doom, but I don't
know if it will actually deliver.
Simoun is very, but also pretty. It seems to have plenty
of scope for doom.
Food: Too much pizza. Blargh.
Silly Computer Games: Blargh.
Cats:
Uh oh, Ghirardelli is not keeping himself clean. I hope this is just a
lapse and not a sign of something wrong.
Writing: The only thing I don't fail at is sucking.
hugs! by marith (Tue Sep 9 23:04:17 2008)
You are an excellent cat-dad. If you are still worried about Ghiradelli tomorrow we can take him to the vet to make sure he is still in perfect fluffiness.
It is okay to write things that you think suck. It is even okay to write things that do suck, not that I am saying you would, but it would still be okay. Writing even though it sucks and you think you fail is part of getting through the block.
Make a comment!
8 September 2008 - Monday
Work: Bah, it is not enough for the user. Also, it's
Monday.
Gaming: FAILURE.
Visual Entertainments: FAILURE.
Silly Computer Games: Blargh.
Cats:
Marmalade and Ghirardelli flopped with their heads toward each other and
turned sideways and batted at each other, so I guess they are still
friends.
Writing: More failure than you can shake a pencil
at.
Make a comment!
7 September 2008 - Sunday
Gaming: "Against the Kobolds" had another session
today, this time with actual kobolds. Jeremy's character was taken to 0
hit points about three times, but never finished dying, and that wasn't
even the time when they were all hanging from a rope and the kobolds cut
it.
However, I stupidly used the "default" pronoun for the kobolds,
revealing that I am a suck-filled tool of the patriarchy.
Visual Entertainments: First episode off the third
disc of Negima!, since I was too lame to have time to watch
anything longer. It was the "Net Idol Chiu" episode.
Food: Marith lured me to Country Gourmet, where I had the
lemon chicken which was not too much food (unlike the stir-fry).
Silly Computer Games: Blargh.
Cats:
Twelve paws!
Writing: Suckage and fail.
Make a comment!
6 September 2008 - Saturday
Gaming: Sort of prepared for D&D tomorrow. At least,
I drew up some maps. With DOOOOM!
Visual Entertainments: Now I have finished
Gilgamesh. My, that was a depressing ending. They should
have consulted the guy from Evangelion about their
Singularity plan.
Silly Computer Games: Glargh.
Cats:
I suspect Ghirardelli of oppressing the other two cats, but I don't know
what to do about it even if I'm correct.
Writing: Fail levels holding constant or increasing
slightly.
Make a comment!
5 September 2008 - Friday
Work: The user was not entirely satisfied, but I
think I can give him what he says he wants without too much more work.
Gaming: FAILURE.
Visual Entertainments: Sixth (and penultimate) disc
of Gilgamesh. It seems fairly clear where the ending is
going.
Silly Computer Games: Sudoku is so much more appealing than
thinking.
Cats:
Twelve paws!
Writing: Faility fail fail.
Make a comment!
4 September 2008 - Thursday
Work: Hopefully this will satisfy the user.
Gaming: FAILURE.
Visual Entertainments: FAILURE.
Silly Computer Games: Blargh.
Cats:
Twelve paws!
Writing: Ginormous failitude.
Make a comment!
3 September 2008 - Wednesday
Work: I expect perl data structures seem luxurious
to C programmers, but after using an OO language like ruby, naked arrays
of handles seem pretty clumsy.
Gaming: FAILURE. Mike can't leave his lair because he
has to parent, and Ayse can't leave her lair because she's full of germs,
so there is once again no Earthdawn.
Visual Entertainments: Disc five of Gilgamesh.
The doom increases, and there are hints that the ending will be
Evangelion-like.
Silly Computer Games: Blargh.
Cats:
Twelve paws!
Writing: Still with the fail.
Make a comment!
2 September 2008 - Tuesday
Work: Back to perl! Also, explaining to users why
the bogus numbers on the reports they ask for are bogus.
Gaming: Sent out some thoughts about 4th ed wizards,
but FAILURE.
Visual Entertainments: Sniff, we are out of
Spice and Wolf! Next week, Simoun!
Kodocha is very tragic and also almost over. After next
week's finale, Gurren Lagann.
The reburned episode of Dennou Coil functioned properly, and
wow. It looked like a climax, but there are still six episodes left!
Shakugan no Shana is cutting back and forth between the
alien girlfriend romance plot and the horrible soul-eating monsters
plot, which seem destined to collide messily.
Silly Computer Games: Sudoku until my brain fell out.
Cats:
Twelve paws!
Writing: Made of fail.
Make a comment!
1 September 2008 - Monday
Work: No work on Labor Day!
Gaming: FAILURE.
Visual Entertainments: Fourth disc of
Gilgamesh. They are all so very doomed.
Silly Computer Games: Blargh.
Cats:
Ghirardelli is being extra-affectionate today! Aspen still spurns the
kitty treats, though.
Writing: The fail is strong with this one.
Make a comment!
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