Andromeda's Invasion

Chess

2006-10-10T14:45:00.000-04:00

Toiletgate. I don't know what to say. Go Kramnik? Not that I don't find you somewhat responsible for what happened. I prefer your style of play to that of Topalov's. Yeah, I find him responsible too. FIDE also. Ah well, it's even after game 11. Officially that's the truth.

That little red corvette

2005-09-02T14:49:00.000-04:00

I thought I should make a post before I head off to NYC.

Doesn't that sound just like someone who spends a lot of time on message boards?

Anyway, I'm leaving for New York as soon as I finish and as soon as my jeans come out of the dryer. So I'm sitting here in my undies writing this. Now if only I could drive like that. I have a friend - she's in her mid-fifties - and she wears only black and white that's too skimpy and way too much pale make-up and I saw her yesterday in her new daisy dukes, black sweater, and white men's dress shirt - sized small - with a hole in it and would really like to shake her until she screamed. Maybe I'll recommend her for a surprise visit by 'How Do I Look?' or 'What Not to Wear.' That would be fun.

Mostly this post is about my new car. I promised myself I wouldn't do it since I'm moving to Australia next month, but I couldn't resist. It's a Corvette, red of course - what other color is there? I considered a Viper. The cost is about the same and it's a snazzy car too, but the Corvette is a classic. Besides the package I wanted on the Viper only comes in this ugly orange color. Who wants an orange sportscar? This will be my first real trip with the 'vette. The weather's nice so far so I can take the roof off. It's going to be fun. I won't say anything about the price of gas. Life's like that.

What I'm going to do in New York - I keep trying to spell it Yourk. Wedding Dress Shopping! There's a bridal trunk show too while I'm there. Of course I'll catch a few shows on broadway- I've already got tickets to three - visit some of my old friends, the one's who are closer to my ex, but what the heck? They are still friends. And of course, there are the restaurants. It's a pity I'm trying to stay thin so I can have a dress and wear it too. It'll be worth the extra time in the gym. Call it my last girl's week out. Can you say chocolate?

I know it's a druid/wizard but I want to play a fighter. This great concept came up in my dream last night. Can I change it please?

Hilary Duff used to be a cute little girl. Now she's a wraith like everyone else in movies. Saw a movie with Lindsay Lohan yesterday: the myscene barbie one. She was herself in it. She's supposed to be a normal girl who's rich and has a cool job that hasn't gone to her head. I read about her 'star' blowups all the time. What am I supposed to believe, the movie meant to sell dolls or what she's done in public?

Has there been a man in the movies worth watching since Carey Grant? Oh, yes. There was Harrison Ford and now there's Johnny Depp. Life is good. I can't wait for the next Pirate's of the Carribean movie. I wonder if he'll ever play a character that isn't quirky. It's amazing how awesome he was as Willy Wonka. I liked this version way more than the Gene Wilder one.

Burning down the house

2005-08-26T00:52:00.000-04:00

I came home from an evening out the other day to find that my street was blocked off and they were making people take a wide detour. It turns out that there was a fire above the tattoo parlour at the end of the street. Everyone got out safely. Thanks to a bad fire in another town last year, our fire department improved its response coordination and this fire, in a 100 year old building in a row of 100 year old buildings, was contained to the original building. The next day the state police fire marshall came and determined the fire had started at an overloaded circuit for an entertainment center. Given that my house is of the same generation as the structure that burned, I'm glad to be moving out soon.

Is this too gross? There was a fatal fire in another apartment a few months ago in another town nearby. A woman hid in a bathtup and died of smoke inhalation. She was protected from the direct damage of the fire and instead of being burned up was roasted. It smelled a lot like cooking at a campfire.

Lesson Learned

2005-08-21T03:34:00.000-04:00

Today I discovered a horrid thing about blogs. People reply to them. Sometimes those people are replying just to put an advertising link - as if I would ever follow a link posted by 'anonymous'. Cowards. Sometimes I think those people are bots.

I discovered a great thing about blogs. People reply to them. It gives me a chance to go look at someeone else's blog and see stuff I would never have thought to look at. Thank you to that type of responder.

Dulce, it was very sweet of you to invite Mira over.

Edit: due to spam I had to add word verification. Sorry, commenters.

You're supposed to say good things

2005-08-19T12:09:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite online roleplaying campaigns has come to an abrupt and unsatisfying end. The GM was overwhelmed and was no longer enjoying the game and found it was contributing to her stress level. She had the strength of will to drop it and indeed her online gaming website - and apparently online gaming presence everywhere - with it. As a player in the game, I'm supposed to feel sympathetic and tell her she did the right thing and I'll miss playing in her game and hope things go well for her.

What a bunch of crap. I hate it. I want her to go on, I want her to wrap things up. I want her to fulfill the promise the game offered. My head knows what she did was probably best for her. My heart wants Mirabel to live on. Which sucks since I know she won't.

Another game I was interested in faced the same situation. I thought the original GM had a horrible style of play in mind so I didn't join in. He dropped it and the players found someone else to take over. The new GM, a good friend of mine, is running a game I find enjoyable. It's probably the best online game I'm in right now. Part of that's the players several of whom played characters in the other game. I don't have such hopes for the future of this one.

If life didn't have its downs and ups, it wouldn't be life. I'll get over it of course. It's only a game.

I hope you (don't) dance

2005-08-10T23:47:00.000-04:00

There's that great romantic feeling one gets at the start of a relationship. It tends to overwhelm the others. It's that feeling that your heart's going to burst if you don't see him and then you do see him and it feels like it's going to burst anyway. Kissing when you feel like that is electric.

Last weekend some friends and I went out for a few drinks, to listen to a band at a club and maybe dance a little. We were dancing and one of my friends noticed a man was checking me out. I don't really pay as much attention to these things as I used to before I became engaged. He came over and said hello. I made it clear I was taken and he said that was okay. Smart girls would run at this point. My friends all said to go for it so I did.

His name is Etienne Navarro - at least that's how I'd spell it I think. He's short, so he's my height. Tanned skin, black hair. Hispanic and with a beautiful accent that reminds me of Antonio Banderas - the Zorro guy!!!! We spent most of the night talking Spanish. I guess you don't run into too many people up here that speak it well enough for conversation.

About that electric feeling. I would really, really like to have kissed him. But I'm engaged.

PD d20 feels like an afterthought of the GURPS version.
I just heard "Achy breaky heart" on the radio.

Bloody Vampires

2005-08-05T00:47:00.000-04:00

I went in today for my annual visit to the Vampires. Some people call this blood tests. I got an intern. Interns are a bad thing when it comes to having needles stuck into your body.

The time before this when someone stuck a needle in my arm it was for a free screening for something or the other, cholesterol I think. After the guy rooted around for a few seconds, he found what he was looking for and proceeded to extract two whole vials of the red stuff. Is that in case the lab makes a booboo? I had a blue line down my arm for days and it was incredibly sore.

Today, after the guy rooted around for a few seconds and didn't find what he was looking for, I said 'ow' and he withdrew the needle. The good news is I won't have a blue streak down my arm. The bad news is it hurts even worse than before. The ironic news is that his trainer then did the job painlessly and effortlessly in the other arm.

The new corvettes are really cool. I'd buy one but then I'd have to ship it overseas. Yes I like cars and motorcycles. I own a few of each. My favorite car is a Pontiac Fiero (red of course). I gravitate toward Harleys on the other end.

Music of the week: Styx - "The Serpent is Rising"
TV Show of the week: The new "Battlestar Galactica" - I love the theme music.
Book of the week: Patricia C. Wrede - "Dealing with Dragons"

Shipping from Texas to Australia must be expensive

2005-08-03T11:34:00.000-04:00

I made my semi-annual pilgrimage to ADB's website yesterday - google it, I don't do links. As usual, there were a ton of new products that I just had to have. One of them was the d20 version of their Star Fleet Universe role-playing game. I'm already dreaming up a campaign to GM with that. It hit me today as I was trying to think of a witty title for this entry - why do they have to have witty titles? - that when I move to Sydney that shipping is going to be quite dear. Maybe I'll order the stuff and have it sent to a friend's house and pick it up when I visit; Oh yeah, that'll be much cheaper. An round trip flight from Sydney to Pittsburgh has to be less than the cost to ship a few pounds overseas. Eat it, Rommie dear.

Candlemass. What do you give people who can find anything they want, especially when you don't know them? Bleys, a psychologist whom he can't manipulate. Gerard, the 12-step program to fix it all. Flora, a crown perhaps. Julian, a good shave. Benedict, a get out of jail free card. Caine, a t-shirt that says "I'm not foolin' anyone, y'know". Corwin, a stern talking to. Llewella, nothing - you don't need it. Random, a good plastic surgeon. Ah good, rambling produces results.

Some DMing styles - which I will politely call anal - really annoy me.

I saved the best for last. I finally made a decision on the Wedding Gown. Vera Wang. Definitely. I had really wanted a Versace and had to really talk myself into something else; the shirt in my picture here is Versace, but it seems so old school. Okay, so I only chose the designer. That's a big step! I've got an appointment in September at her Madison Avenue Salon. I'll probably buy the bridesmaids gowns there too. Yes, I know, be careful. Women come in all sizes and don't want to wear something that isn't flattering. I'm old enough to know better. I can not wait!!!!!!!!!

Sex is better than peanut butter

2005-07-31T23:51:00.000-04:00

Sex is a good cureall. Great sex is a great cureall. I woke Ian up this morning and gave him the cure. It sounds clichéd but so what.

I love looking at the weekly celebrity pictures.

The Summer of my Sci-Fi Nightmare

2005-07-31T01:17:00.000-04:00

As good as yesterday was, today was that bad.

Monday is a bank holiday in Australia (what Americans call a holiday) so Ian decided to surprise me by coming to visit for the weekend. He arrived yesterday while I was at Idlewild. I didn't take my cell phone with me - I was taking a holiday (what Americans call a vacation day) - so I couldn't be reached. I got home last night, created a blog because I felt so good I had to share it, and went to bed.

I got up today, checked my messages, and found out he was staying at a local hotel. He was so incredibly mad. I can see his point and all, but it sure would have been nice if he could see mine. Turned my day into a living--heck. He's here now, but I'm having a tough time crawling into bed with him.

website of the day: Order of the Stick - google it, I don't do links
movie of the day: 13 going on 30
album of the day: Trace Atkins - Songs about Me

Wildly Idle

2005-07-29T23:32:00.000-04:00

Today was a good day and I'm exhausted. Some friends and I went to Idlewild park near Ligonier. We were there from opening to closing. I got to watch Kadh's* daughter go through some growing pains when she discovered she was too big for the kiddie rides and not quite brave enough for the big rides. There was crying in several lines and on a couple of rides, but there was no ride that she didn't ask to go on again at the end. It was tough because Bobby's daughter is younger and can still do the kiddie stuff. Yeah, we split into three groups (singles + couples with no kids, couples with older kids, and couples with younger kids) and joined up at various times in the day - lunch, some water rides, the classic car parade.

We all got temporary tattoos to commemorate the event. Mine's a blue dragon. It's a shame it will wear off in about a week because it's really cute. I was actually really good and stayed with my diet. Oh, it's "healthy eating plan" not diet.

This is why I started this: I have some great friends and we do a lot together. I wanted to share our cameraderie with the world while I still have them to enjoy. In a few months I'll be moving to Australia to live with my fiance. I'm really going to miss these guys.

*Not his real name obviously, but how he like sto be identified on the net.