As some of you may know, tomorrow I will be hosting my first ever SoF practice. I'm excited. And nervous. This much excited and this much nervous. I'll probably be this much nervous by about 4:00 tomorrow.
Being the stickler for preparedness that I am (though I was never a boy scout I do try to help the occasional old lady across the street regardless) I've got my games list all worked out. We'll be doing the first ever (audience present) performance of Inner Voices! Every time we've practiced it it's gone fantastically well so I can't wait to see how the audience reacts to it.
In other news, tension mounts as the First Annual (I hope :) Ship of Fools Gift Exchange (or FASoFGE) draws near. The Rex claims to have figured out pretty much who drew who's name, with the exception of a couple, including mine. Seeing the group of people that they're coming from, both incredibly creative, smart, funny and extremely diverse in their interests, I would expect the gift choices to be very interesting at the least!
FASoFGE Countdown: 5 days 22 hours 49 minutes
And you thought Christmas was a big deal.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
We now return you to...
...your regularly scheduled programming.
Some of you may know that at times I am a Reluctant Insomniac. Reluctant to the extent that, unlike Benji, I love my sleep. With the passion of an addict. More importantly I love feeling rested.
Thus when I can't sleep I usually revert to either reading or writing. Often the writing involves this blog. Goodness knows you all have played victim to many an ill-written post spawned from my sleep deprived mind.
That having been said, it was a bit of an irritation when on the Tuesday of Thanksgiving break I found myself lying there unable to shut off my mind. And no computer...
But alas, being the kind of person I am (undaunted by sitting outside at 1 in the morning in my nightgown), I put on shoes, two coats, grabbed the bedspread and headed out-of-doors.
Let me tell you, it was an absolutely gorgeous night. Cold, but gorgeous. Funny how easy it is to forget some things. After living my entire life in that same place it was still something of a surprise to see just how many stars were visible. And as far as visibility goes, it was pretty good, but not remarkable by any stretch. Here you can see like 4 stars...on a good night.
I stayed out for quite some time, laying on the trunk of my car (that's actually quite comfortable for stargazing.) Even saw a couple of tiny, leftover Leonid meteors. Orion rising in the east, the Big Dipper setting in the north.
Some people say that they look at the sky and feel tiny or insignificant. I don't. I don't think it's ever made me feel that way. It's spectacular and amazing and enormous and impossible to wrap your mind around yes, but it's still packed full of possibilities and mysteries and new things and, as cliched as this sounds, untouched frontiers waiting to be explored.
To wrap things up, I really don't think that there is any better time or place to reconcile yourself with whatever might be consuming your mind then when you're completely hidden in darkness, looking out over the whole of the universe.
It's glorious, that's what it is.
Some of you may know that at times I am a Reluctant Insomniac. Reluctant to the extent that, unlike Benji, I love my sleep. With the passion of an addict. More importantly I love feeling rested.
Thus when I can't sleep I usually revert to either reading or writing. Often the writing involves this blog. Goodness knows you all have played victim to many an ill-written post spawned from my sleep deprived mind.
That having been said, it was a bit of an irritation when on the Tuesday of Thanksgiving break I found myself lying there unable to shut off my mind. And no computer...
But alas, being the kind of person I am (undaunted by sitting outside at 1 in the morning in my nightgown), I put on shoes, two coats, grabbed the bedspread and headed out-of-doors.
Let me tell you, it was an absolutely gorgeous night. Cold, but gorgeous. Funny how easy it is to forget some things. After living my entire life in that same place it was still something of a surprise to see just how many stars were visible. And as far as visibility goes, it was pretty good, but not remarkable by any stretch. Here you can see like 4 stars...on a good night.
I stayed out for quite some time, laying on the trunk of my car (that's actually quite comfortable for stargazing.) Even saw a couple of tiny, leftover Leonid meteors. Orion rising in the east, the Big Dipper setting in the north.
Some people say that they look at the sky and feel tiny or insignificant. I don't. I don't think it's ever made me feel that way. It's spectacular and amazing and enormous and impossible to wrap your mind around yes, but it's still packed full of possibilities and mysteries and new things and, as cliched as this sounds, untouched frontiers waiting to be explored.
To wrap things up, I really don't think that there is any better time or place to reconcile yourself with whatever might be consuming your mind then when you're completely hidden in darkness, looking out over the whole of the universe.
It's glorious, that's what it is.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Did you know the first...
...reader of this post will mark the 1000 hit on my blog? Yup. They will.
I have a Thanksgiving Break Report Post in the making, but for this pseudo anniversary or whatever the heck you'd call it I think I'd like something else. A bit of writing mayhaps? I really don' t have much in the making, but I'll give you the first thing that came to hand. Except for the very first line I don't think it's all that great, but it's what I have so here it is.
~ "Don't just stand there goggling at me like some giant stupid fish! What is it?" Snarled Jared at the young sergeant.
"Sir, the reports you asked for are ready sir."
Asked for was certainly putting a nice spin on it.
Jared stared at the kid for a minute. "Well then can you give them to me already?"
"Oh! Yes sir, I'm sorry sir." Stammered the boy, simultaneously turning a lovely shade of pink and finally remembering to extend his arm.
"Thank you!", snapped Jared, snatching the file from the lad's hand. "That will be all."
As the sergeant left the room at a pace that was meant to look business like, but actually appeared more like a panicked escape, Sam heard Jared muttering something about "darn kids" and "just out of ROTC". ~
I have a Thanksgiving Break Report Post in the making, but for this pseudo anniversary or whatever the heck you'd call it I think I'd like something else. A bit of writing mayhaps? I really don' t have much in the making, but I'll give you the first thing that came to hand. Except for the very first line I don't think it's all that great, but it's what I have so here it is.
~ "Don't just stand there goggling at me like some giant stupid fish! What is it?" Snarled Jared at the young sergeant.
"Sir, the reports you asked for are ready sir."
Asked for was certainly putting a nice spin on it.
Jared stared at the kid for a minute. "Well then can you give them to me already?"
"Oh! Yes sir, I'm sorry sir." Stammered the boy, simultaneously turning a lovely shade of pink and finally remembering to extend his arm.
"Thank you!", snapped Jared, snatching the file from the lad's hand. "That will be all."
As the sergeant left the room at a pace that was meant to look business like, but actually appeared more like a panicked escape, Sam heard Jared muttering something about "darn kids" and "just out of ROTC". ~
Monday, November 20, 2006
Everyone has their secrets I suppose...
So I was talking to a friend the other day about keeping a journal. Well actually it started with the discussion of journals in general. As he put it, and as I have always felt, there's something about a nice journal that is just majestic. There's so much potential there. The art of the written word, and I don't just mean the finished product of a book or a letter, I mean writing, the written language, is purely elegant. Naturally it's use in the conveyance of ideas is impressive, but I've always found the act of writing somehow intriguing.
But that's not really what I meant to talk about tonight. I was going to talk about my own peculiar journal keeping enigmas.
Traditionally my journals contain a very high percentage of random scenes. I find the potential of a good journal and a well-writing pen inspiring.
They also have a lot of dreams recorded in them as well though. I'm not a believer of dream interpretation, but mine are impressively strange at times and also serve as inspiration (even direct transcription a couple of times) for scenes or stories.
And then there's the personal stuff. Things I want to remember forever, and things that I'm thinking or feeling that I just want to write down. This blog also serves that purpose, but I'd say that my journal entries are somewhat darker. That is the place for things that I don't necessarily want the rest of the world to be reading (not just yet at any rate).
Today I surpassed even those bounds. I wrote something in it this morning, concerning a dream I had last night. Tonight when I couldn't sleep I picked up the journal to try and write for a while.
I felt as if that previous entry was adulterating the pages.
Simple act to take it out, tear it up and throw it away right? No. There was a reason I wrote it in there. The same reason I'm writing about it here. To talk about it. And possibly even to have a record of it. I did tear it out. But I folded it up and sealed it in an envelope. I'll probably throw it way, or burn it. I don't know.
I just thought it was funny that there are some things that I talk about openly which jive with the things that I write about on this blog, which slightly jive with the things that I write in my journal. And then there are the things that I don't even want on the pages of that.
I don't know that I will even post this entry. If I do, know that it is unedited and that I did it on a whim. For now I'm just going to save it.
Everyone has their secrets I suppose...
But that's not really what I meant to talk about tonight. I was going to talk about my own peculiar journal keeping enigmas.
Traditionally my journals contain a very high percentage of random scenes. I find the potential of a good journal and a well-writing pen inspiring.
They also have a lot of dreams recorded in them as well though. I'm not a believer of dream interpretation, but mine are impressively strange at times and also serve as inspiration (even direct transcription a couple of times) for scenes or stories.
And then there's the personal stuff. Things I want to remember forever, and things that I'm thinking or feeling that I just want to write down. This blog also serves that purpose, but I'd say that my journal entries are somewhat darker. That is the place for things that I don't necessarily want the rest of the world to be reading (not just yet at any rate).
Today I surpassed even those bounds. I wrote something in it this morning, concerning a dream I had last night. Tonight when I couldn't sleep I picked up the journal to try and write for a while.
I felt as if that previous entry was adulterating the pages.
Simple act to take it out, tear it up and throw it away right? No. There was a reason I wrote it in there. The same reason I'm writing about it here. To talk about it. And possibly even to have a record of it. I did tear it out. But I folded it up and sealed it in an envelope. I'll probably throw it way, or burn it. I don't know.
I just thought it was funny that there are some things that I talk about openly which jive with the things that I write about on this blog, which slightly jive with the things that I write in my journal. And then there are the things that I don't even want on the pages of that.
I don't know that I will even post this entry. If I do, know that it is unedited and that I did it on a whim. For now I'm just going to save it.
Everyone has their secrets I suppose...
Saturday, November 18, 2006
This round's on me...
Nearly 2 AM: Coming down off the high of a great show followed by a rousing round of 1000 Blank White Cards. Being serenaded by Sinatras' "Somethin' Stupid". As the adrenalin wash wears off I'm left with a deliciously sleepy feeling, though I very much doubt that I could go to sleep just yet.
Twas a good night, a very good night. Even though my arm feels about 15 pounds heavier. Funny thing that. Gather round, I'll tell ya the story.
So one of the 10^3 BWC cards had everyone raise an arm, elbow locked. Whoever was the last to drop their arm won something...I think. I can't remember now. I was actually pleased and a bit surprised about how long I was sticking it out. And that's when Cowboy made his mistake, saying something along the lines of, "I want to quit but I can't lose to a girl!". Some of you may know that I do have a competitive streak, and I took that as a definite challenge. A few minutes later that card was rendered null and void by a different one, but Benji, Cowboy and myself kept it up cause we're crazy like that. I don't know how long we stayed like that but it was a long long time.
The point where my biceps and triceps were trembling uncontrollably had come and gone. Eventually apparently Cowboy decided that his arm was more important then his pride and dropped out. It was down to me and Benji. I really had no qualms about losing to Benji, no standing challenge there, but I decided to go for the win.
I think my favorite part of the deal was all the people asking at various stages, "Isn't your arm tired?" or "How can your arm not be tired?". Let me tell you. Tired is not the word.
In the end I lasted out Benji as well. At that point the game was ending. We did make some jokes about my driving a few people home with my arm out the window, but that turned out to be unnecessary.
So now, even though I do still have full range of motion, my shoulder/upper arm does feel strange. Heavy and dead as well as very slightly achey and very aware of the fact that there is blood flowing there. Tis interesting to say the least.
I condone it. I never thought I'd do good in a competition like that because I don't like pain very much, but you might just surprise yourself.
I do wish now that I had thought to time it...But alas, such is life.
The moral of the story children, talent may get you far, but sheer stupidity/stubbornness can do a lot as well!
Until next time, when hopefully I will be slightly more awake and have a better story to tell,
~Kamikaze, signing off.
Twas a good night, a very good night. Even though my arm feels about 15 pounds heavier. Funny thing that. Gather round, I'll tell ya the story.
So one of the 10^3 BWC cards had everyone raise an arm, elbow locked. Whoever was the last to drop their arm won something...I think. I can't remember now. I was actually pleased and a bit surprised about how long I was sticking it out. And that's when Cowboy made his mistake, saying something along the lines of, "I want to quit but I can't lose to a girl!". Some of you may know that I do have a competitive streak, and I took that as a definite challenge. A few minutes later that card was rendered null and void by a different one, but Benji, Cowboy and myself kept it up cause we're crazy like that. I don't know how long we stayed like that but it was a long long time.
The point where my biceps and triceps were trembling uncontrollably had come and gone. Eventually apparently Cowboy decided that his arm was more important then his pride and dropped out. It was down to me and Benji. I really had no qualms about losing to Benji, no standing challenge there, but I decided to go for the win.
I think my favorite part of the deal was all the people asking at various stages, "Isn't your arm tired?" or "How can your arm not be tired?". Let me tell you. Tired is not the word.
In the end I lasted out Benji as well. At that point the game was ending. We did make some jokes about my driving a few people home with my arm out the window, but that turned out to be unnecessary.
So now, even though I do still have full range of motion, my shoulder/upper arm does feel strange. Heavy and dead as well as very slightly achey and very aware of the fact that there is blood flowing there. Tis interesting to say the least.
I condone it. I never thought I'd do good in a competition like that because I don't like pain very much, but you might just surprise yourself.
I do wish now that I had thought to time it...But alas, such is life.
The moral of the story children, talent may get you far, but sheer stupidity/stubbornness can do a lot as well!
Until next time, when hopefully I will be slightly more awake and have a better story to tell,
~Kamikaze, signing off.
Thursday, November 16, 2006
The past has shown...
...that most of my completely pointless updates are reserved for nights when I can't sleep.
I'm shaking things up this evening! The is a completely pointless post, but not because I can't sleep. Heavens no, I am in fact quite tired. But I'm writing this because I want to write something now, and come hell or high water I'm going to!
So today I stumbled across a swell mechanical pencil. Literally. I was walking to CGT lab this morning in the poring rain and went to step up on a curb and sent this pencil skittering across the pavement. In that kind of situation I'm never really sure what to do. I mean, the chances of the owner knowing where to look and actually finding it are extremely slim (had I left it there). In this case (seeing as how it was a pencil and not, oh say, a child) I kept it.
The funny thing is that I had it out in CGT, having told the story to Brian, and our TA comes around to grade our CAD assignments. I'm sitting there placidly listening to something he had to say about F-16's and radar and I suddenly come to the realization that (to my horror) I am about to place the end of the pencil (yes that's right folks, the pencil I found on the curb) into my mouth, as is my wont with my own collection of fine writing utensils.
You're all hearing it right? "Don't put that in your mouth! You don't know where it's been!"
In other news, on Wednesday the SoF all drew names for our Hidden Hanukkah Handout Happening (like Secret Santa, but Jewish). I can't say who I drew, but I will say that I already have his (ok, so you know it's not Kyle) present on the way and I think he'll be very happy with it. At least I hope so. And I'm pretty certain.
I'm also going to be hosting my first Friday practice on the 1st of December! At least as far as I know I will. Now we'll get to see just how much I've learned about timing and show planning!
To cauterize: Some quotes from our new game Inner Voices.
Attempt: First ever (and a resounding success might I add!)
Situation: Job interview
Ryan: "Do you have any salary demands?"
Benji's inner voice (Tripod): "Oh, I could make some demands!"
Ryan's inner voice (Stu): "I think you're de-mand."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So I realize that I'm not there yet, but I kinda like this moving towards being a cewebrity thing I've got goin' on. Check this out: http://web.mac.com/agentpi/iWeb/Site/B*Log(Jamie)/082BBDC3-3485-4B4D-B329-11F7FCE15ECE.html
This particular website is written and published by Comrade Jamie.
I'm shaking things up this evening! The is a completely pointless post, but not because I can't sleep. Heavens no, I am in fact quite tired. But I'm writing this because I want to write something now, and come hell or high water I'm going to!
So today I stumbled across a swell mechanical pencil. Literally. I was walking to CGT lab this morning in the poring rain and went to step up on a curb and sent this pencil skittering across the pavement. In that kind of situation I'm never really sure what to do. I mean, the chances of the owner knowing where to look and actually finding it are extremely slim (had I left it there). In this case (seeing as how it was a pencil and not, oh say, a child) I kept it.
The funny thing is that I had it out in CGT, having told the story to Brian, and our TA comes around to grade our CAD assignments. I'm sitting there placidly listening to something he had to say about F-16's and radar and I suddenly come to the realization that (to my horror) I am about to place the end of the pencil (yes that's right folks, the pencil I found on the curb) into my mouth, as is my wont with my own collection of fine writing utensils.
You're all hearing it right? "Don't put that in your mouth! You don't know where it's been!"
In other news, on Wednesday the SoF all drew names for our Hidden Hanukkah Handout Happening (like Secret Santa, but Jewish). I can't say who I drew, but I will say that I already have his (ok, so you know it's not Kyle) present on the way and I think he'll be very happy with it. At least I hope so. And I'm pretty certain.
I'm also going to be hosting my first Friday practice on the 1st of December! At least as far as I know I will. Now we'll get to see just how much I've learned about timing and show planning!
To cauterize: Some quotes from our new game Inner Voices.
Attempt: First ever (and a resounding success might I add!)
Situation: Job interview
Ryan: "Do you have any salary demands?"
Benji's inner voice (Tripod): "Oh, I could make some demands!"
Ryan's inner voice (Stu): "I think you're de-mand."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So I realize that I'm not there yet, but I kinda like this moving towards being a cewebrity thing I've got goin' on. Check this out: http://web.mac.com/agentpi/iWeb/Site/B*Log(Jamie)/082BBDC3-3485-4B4D-B329-11F7FCE15ECE.html
This particular website is written and published by Comrade Jamie.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Breaker, breaker, seven one niner alpha november...
I found this picture on the internet. Though I don't always find the fantasy genre to my taste, I thought it rather intriguing.
It's called "Night Angel" by fromtheshadowsart. A link can be found to this picture on the site www.fromtheshadows.com. Do you see the earth in the background? Isn't that neat?
Brings to mind the passage:
"Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light;
I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night."
From Sarah Williams: "Old Astronomer to His Pupil"
It's called "Night Angel" by fromtheshadowsart. A link can be found to this picture on the site www.fromtheshadows.com. Do you see the earth in the background? Isn't that neat?
Brings to mind the passage:"Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light;
I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night."
From Sarah Williams: "Old Astronomer to His Pupil"
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Long awaited...
~ "You may regret that one of these days!"
"I may regret a lot of things when the time comes, but that time hasn't come- Get back!" Jared hissed suddenly, throwing his arm across Sam's chest and veritably flinging him back against the wall.
Two of the Council guards made their way past, conversing amicably in a dialect that Sam didn't recognize but apparently (judging from the considerable interest suddenly showing on his face) Jared had a working knowledge of.
In a second he was changed from his usual surly countenance to grinning like a madman. He waited only long enough for the two men to make it around the corner in the direction of the Council House before gloating, "Well what do you know! The Minister seems to have been out sick for a couple of days. Isn't that handy?"
Jared smirked and Sam found himself fearing for either his life or sanity once again.
"Jared, we can't just walk into the Minister's office."
"Oh yes we can. And we will. And be quiet about it! This isn't a Bond movie you know."
Those who knew Sam well agreed that he had considerable will power. And it took every last shred of it to restrain him from hitting Jared at that moment. The impulse died a sudden death when Jared, a dangerous glint still in his eye, shoved out of their little niche and started down the alley with the nonchalance of a tourist.
Sam made a spluttering noise that sounded ridiculous even to his own ears, but got no reaction. He finally just snatched up his pack, determining to fight that battle later, and caught up with Jared just as he was turning down another alley.
"Good grief Jared, was it really necessary to throw me at the wall?" Sam complained, rubbing the back of his neck. "You knocked the wind right out of me!"
"All the better. I didn't need those guys hearing you breathe."
Once again in a span of two minutes Sam wanted to lay into Jared. He reminded himself to take deep breaths as Jared took another corner into a crowded souq.
The air was thick with the odors of camels, dust, sweat, decaying fish, and a mixture of spices and heavy incenses that assaulted the nose unmercifully.
Sam supposed that some of the smells, taken by themselves and in small doses, might even be pleasant. But not most of them.
Jared paused by a young boy with a reed basket and spent five full minutes bartering for two oranges and a handful of almonds. The child drove a stiff bargain and finally Jared acquiesced, paying full price, handing one of the oranges to Sam and slipping the little bag of almonds into his pocket.
Same didn't complain, it was past noon. Having had what Jared called a "good breakfast" (the ritual three tiny cups of ridiculously strong coffee and a piece of flat bread wrapped around cold rice and mutton, remnants of last nights supper which, incidentally, hadn't gotten less tough or better tasting overnight) he figured that it was high time for lunch. ~
~I made this!
I'd like to call attention to the fact that today is Veterans Day, and I want to say thank you. Thank you very much.
"I may regret a lot of things when the time comes, but that time hasn't come- Get back!" Jared hissed suddenly, throwing his arm across Sam's chest and veritably flinging him back against the wall.
Two of the Council guards made their way past, conversing amicably in a dialect that Sam didn't recognize but apparently (judging from the considerable interest suddenly showing on his face) Jared had a working knowledge of.
In a second he was changed from his usual surly countenance to grinning like a madman. He waited only long enough for the two men to make it around the corner in the direction of the Council House before gloating, "Well what do you know! The Minister seems to have been out sick for a couple of days. Isn't that handy?"
Jared smirked and Sam found himself fearing for either his life or sanity once again.
"Jared, we can't just walk into the Minister's office."
"Oh yes we can. And we will. And be quiet about it! This isn't a Bond movie you know."
Those who knew Sam well agreed that he had considerable will power. And it took every last shred of it to restrain him from hitting Jared at that moment. The impulse died a sudden death when Jared, a dangerous glint still in his eye, shoved out of their little niche and started down the alley with the nonchalance of a tourist.
Sam made a spluttering noise that sounded ridiculous even to his own ears, but got no reaction. He finally just snatched up his pack, determining to fight that battle later, and caught up with Jared just as he was turning down another alley.
"Good grief Jared, was it really necessary to throw me at the wall?" Sam complained, rubbing the back of his neck. "You knocked the wind right out of me!"
"All the better. I didn't need those guys hearing you breathe."
Once again in a span of two minutes Sam wanted to lay into Jared. He reminded himself to take deep breaths as Jared took another corner into a crowded souq.
The air was thick with the odors of camels, dust, sweat, decaying fish, and a mixture of spices and heavy incenses that assaulted the nose unmercifully.
Sam supposed that some of the smells, taken by themselves and in small doses, might even be pleasant. But not most of them.
Jared paused by a young boy with a reed basket and spent five full minutes bartering for two oranges and a handful of almonds. The child drove a stiff bargain and finally Jared acquiesced, paying full price, handing one of the oranges to Sam and slipping the little bag of almonds into his pocket.
Same didn't complain, it was past noon. Having had what Jared called a "good breakfast" (the ritual three tiny cups of ridiculously strong coffee and a piece of flat bread wrapped around cold rice and mutton, remnants of last nights supper which, incidentally, hadn't gotten less tough or better tasting overnight) he figured that it was high time for lunch. ~
~I made this!
I'd like to call attention to the fact that today is Veterans Day, and I want to say thank you. Thank you very much.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
The transit-ional period...
Today (or yesterday truth be told, seeing as it's after midnight) my grandfather sent me a link to an article about the upcoming Mercury transit. I kid you not, I spent a full five minutes trying to figure out how the living heck that was possible. It just didn't make a bit of sense. The geometry is all wrong! Mercury can't come between the Earth and Sun!
After a bit of this kind of logic and even a bit of Space.com surfing for more info I finally realized that it's a Mercury transit.
Now I can here you saying to yourself, "Yeah, Mercury, you said that. What's the point?"
Well, my friend, the point is that in my little planetary diagram buried deep within the synapses of my little brain I had juxtaposed...wait for it...Mars with Mercury. Yes indeed. Not consciously. I did not actually sit there and think to myself, "Mercury is farther from the sun then Earth." But I apparently stopped reading at the "M". Do I do that often? I don't think so...
Funny moment when I finally realized that, oh gee whiz, there can conceivably be a Mercury transit because...it's Mercury!
And that, boys and girls, was Renee's Genius Monday Moment.
Thanks a lot folks, I'll be here all week!
~~~~~~
Worth checking out, at the very least because I've been blamed for something on it and/or it's got a great name! And it's published by my friend Kara. ;) www.ChevronSeven.blogspot.com
After a bit of this kind of logic and even a bit of Space.com surfing for more info I finally realized that it's a Mercury transit.
Now I can here you saying to yourself, "Yeah, Mercury, you said that. What's the point?"
Well, my friend, the point is that in my little planetary diagram buried deep within the synapses of my little brain I had juxtaposed...wait for it...Mars with Mercury. Yes indeed. Not consciously. I did not actually sit there and think to myself, "Mercury is farther from the sun then Earth." But I apparently stopped reading at the "M". Do I do that often? I don't think so...
Funny moment when I finally realized that, oh gee whiz, there can conceivably be a Mercury transit because...it's Mercury!
And that, boys and girls, was Renee's Genius Monday Moment.
Thanks a lot folks, I'll be here all week!
~~~~~~
Worth checking out, at the very least because I've been blamed for something on it and/or it's got a great name! And it's published by my friend Kara. ;) www.ChevronSeven.blogspot.com
Monday, November 06, 2006
A bit of dream journaling...
...is what I feel up to right now.
So this morning I woke up from a rather...interesting dream. I have often said that I almost never have nightmares. Occasionally I'll have disturbing dreams, and I'd call this one slightly disturbing. I did want to go back to sleep and see how it turned out though. Even my disturbing dreams I find rather fascinating. Part of the reason being that I get to experience things that I wouldn't be able to otherwise.
This particular dream began with my being on (as near as I can figure) an 1800's war ship. Now I must have been either a prisoner or an impressed crewman, because I definitely wasn't fighting on their side. One of the funny things about it is that through the entire dream I believe I played a female role. It would seem that of all my dreams where I'm a man this should have been one of them. I mean really, on a navy ship in the 1800's?
Anyway, I ended up accused of being a traitor. And I didn't deny it. By their definition I certainly was one. I mean heck, I was sabotaging the ship. There was a bit of a pseudo trial and I was sentenced by the captain to walk the plank. At some point during this part of the dream the captain started (or perhaps had always been?) morphing into my father (hehe, what's that tell ya Freud?), and the ship into our home. But I was still supposed to be killed, yes, at home, via walking the plank.
I didn't fight the sentence, simply set about getting my affairs in order. I know that I hoped that there was some way out, but in the mean time you might as well prepare for the worst. The most vivid part of this portion of the dream was when I decided that my mom (who was exhibiting sorrowful resignation funnily enough) should give my tennis shoes (and supposedly whatever else I had) to somebody that needed them. I would walk the plank in my leather moccasin slippers. (Looking back I'm not really sure why I couldn't walk the plank barefoot, dignity mayhaps?) I then went outside to fill up Tiger's water trough and apparently say goodbye to him. I felt bad because the trough was empty and I thought he'd probably been thirsty.
My first impression upon waking? Relief that it was just a dream. No, not because I didn't in fact die, but relief that it was just a dream that Tiger didn't have water.
Second impression, a wish to go back to sleep to see what happened.
I thought that throughout the dream I acted very much as a spy/prisoner/sabotager (is that a word?) should. I had no choice but to be on the ship, and I made the best of the opportunity by gosh. I also faced my inevitable fate with an icy calm and dignified composure.
That's why I like my dreams! It's just like watching a movie, except that you're in it and you feel everything.
And just like an actor, in my dreams I usually don't see things from the perspective of "Renee". More often then not I am someone else, quite often a man, as I referenced before.
That's quality entertainment!
So this morning I woke up from a rather...interesting dream. I have often said that I almost never have nightmares. Occasionally I'll have disturbing dreams, and I'd call this one slightly disturbing. I did want to go back to sleep and see how it turned out though. Even my disturbing dreams I find rather fascinating. Part of the reason being that I get to experience things that I wouldn't be able to otherwise.
This particular dream began with my being on (as near as I can figure) an 1800's war ship. Now I must have been either a prisoner or an impressed crewman, because I definitely wasn't fighting on their side. One of the funny things about it is that through the entire dream I believe I played a female role. It would seem that of all my dreams where I'm a man this should have been one of them. I mean really, on a navy ship in the 1800's?
Anyway, I ended up accused of being a traitor. And I didn't deny it. By their definition I certainly was one. I mean heck, I was sabotaging the ship. There was a bit of a pseudo trial and I was sentenced by the captain to walk the plank. At some point during this part of the dream the captain started (or perhaps had always been?) morphing into my father (hehe, what's that tell ya Freud?), and the ship into our home. But I was still supposed to be killed, yes, at home, via walking the plank.
I didn't fight the sentence, simply set about getting my affairs in order. I know that I hoped that there was some way out, but in the mean time you might as well prepare for the worst. The most vivid part of this portion of the dream was when I decided that my mom (who was exhibiting sorrowful resignation funnily enough) should give my tennis shoes (and supposedly whatever else I had) to somebody that needed them. I would walk the plank in my leather moccasin slippers. (Looking back I'm not really sure why I couldn't walk the plank barefoot, dignity mayhaps?) I then went outside to fill up Tiger's water trough and apparently say goodbye to him. I felt bad because the trough was empty and I thought he'd probably been thirsty.
My first impression upon waking? Relief that it was just a dream. No, not because I didn't in fact die, but relief that it was just a dream that Tiger didn't have water.
Second impression, a wish to go back to sleep to see what happened.
I thought that throughout the dream I acted very much as a spy/prisoner/sabotager (is that a word?) should. I had no choice but to be on the ship, and I made the best of the opportunity by gosh. I also faced my inevitable fate with an icy calm and dignified composure.
That's why I like my dreams! It's just like watching a movie, except that you're in it and you feel everything.
And just like an actor, in my dreams I usually don't see things from the perspective of "Renee". More often then not I am someone else, quite often a man, as I referenced before.
That's quality entertainment!
Saturday, November 04, 2006
Another shot at this...
Ok, I was at work and I wrote an uber big long post and saved it...twice! And now it's gone! Completely wiped off the face of the World Wide Web. Ggggrrrrrrr, Blogger!
It occurred to me that perhaps saving it redundantly actually negated it....
First off, a gigantic welcome to Peace and Talbert who were press ganged- eherm, I mean invited, into the Fools Fold last night. Congratulations guys!!!
Hehe, you know what this means right? I'm not the newest newbie anymore. Not that Cowboy will care.
So I was contemplating the flow of time and a friend of mine that is depressed about turning 23. To me 23 is nothing, but he feels like life is rushing past him, like he hasn't accomplished anything.
I kind of know what he means. There are so very many things that I want to experience but I only have a limited amount of time you know. I find myself simultaneously wanting time to speed up and slow down.
I want it to speed up because this semester my courses are trying to rip out my still beating heart and stand holding it over my limp shuddering body, laughing maniacally as my nonexistent GPA steals the last breath of life from my weakly convulsing lungs.
And next semester is going to be worse.
I want it to slow down because I want to savor every single second I have with my friends here. It's funny, and I'm not sure how or when it happened, but I feel closer now to the guys in the SoF and the C-crowd as Jamie calls it then I have to anybody in a long time. Possibly closer then I have to anybody ever. Not counting family of course, just friends.
The day I moved up here last semester my grandfather told me, "I'll bet that you will meet somebody here that you will be friends with for the rest of your life." I believed him then. Now I can say with complete conviction that that's true. I think it's already happened. And I got more then one out of the deal, and that's just awesome.
Also, according to Benji, the SoF can get you women. And it's true! I can name at least three people that count towards your traditional "girlfriends", or "gal pals" if you will. That's really something new for me. It's not that I don't like women, I have just always had exponentially more men/boys as friends. Why is that? I don't know.
They say that your college years are supposed to be the best of your life. I will naturally always try to one-up that. (After all, why limit yourself? The ceiling is where you build it.) But the SoF and those associated have, and will continue, to make topping this a really tough job for me.
I am happy that one cold January morning so very very long ago I happened to look down at the sidewalk and saw a poster...
"Need a hug? Ship of Fools: Improv comedy..."
It occurred to me that perhaps saving it redundantly actually negated it....
First off, a gigantic welcome to Peace and Talbert who were press ganged- eherm, I mean invited, into the Fools Fold last night. Congratulations guys!!!
Hehe, you know what this means right? I'm not the newest newbie anymore. Not that Cowboy will care.
So I was contemplating the flow of time and a friend of mine that is depressed about turning 23. To me 23 is nothing, but he feels like life is rushing past him, like he hasn't accomplished anything.
I kind of know what he means. There are so very many things that I want to experience but I only have a limited amount of time you know. I find myself simultaneously wanting time to speed up and slow down.
I want it to speed up because this semester my courses are trying to rip out my still beating heart and stand holding it over my limp shuddering body, laughing maniacally as my nonexistent GPA steals the last breath of life from my weakly convulsing lungs.
And next semester is going to be worse.
I want it to slow down because I want to savor every single second I have with my friends here. It's funny, and I'm not sure how or when it happened, but I feel closer now to the guys in the SoF and the C-crowd as Jamie calls it then I have to anybody in a long time. Possibly closer then I have to anybody ever. Not counting family of course, just friends.
The day I moved up here last semester my grandfather told me, "I'll bet that you will meet somebody here that you will be friends with for the rest of your life." I believed him then. Now I can say with complete conviction that that's true. I think it's already happened. And I got more then one out of the deal, and that's just awesome.
Also, according to Benji, the SoF can get you women. And it's true! I can name at least three people that count towards your traditional "girlfriends", or "gal pals" if you will. That's really something new for me. It's not that I don't like women, I have just always had exponentially more men/boys as friends. Why is that? I don't know.
They say that your college years are supposed to be the best of your life. I will naturally always try to one-up that. (After all, why limit yourself? The ceiling is where you build it.) But the SoF and those associated have, and will continue, to make topping this a really tough job for me.
I am happy that one cold January morning so very very long ago I happened to look down at the sidewalk and saw a poster...
"Need a hug? Ship of Fools: Improv comedy..."
Thursday, November 02, 2006
So this is my...
...first post of November, and it also marks the 9th month of this blog's existence. You see, if I had gotten pregnant instead of making a blog, I would have something to show for it by now. Not that I would condone such a thing. Goodness no. Not for all the space tourists in Russia. Which brings me to the point:
Why is it all the smart people that choose not to reproduce, and the stupid people that breed like rabbits? Is there something wrong with that picture? But moving beyond that:
The Hawkins show last night! I think it went fantastically well. We had a good sized audience (the room was crowded, not that gigantic of a room, but it was crowded) (kinda quite crowd at that), the regulars were there, free pizza was there. All in all, a winning combination. I invoked Happy Feet in Benji by giving him one of the fliers from our floor that advertised us as the "Ship of fool improve comedy club". I think that we do improve comedy.
So today at work I got a windfall in the form of 19 Science journals. We had a bunch that were donated that needed to go to recycling and it happened to be my job to mark them. Naturally I started getting interested in the pretty pictures on the fronts. So I was all like, "Yo homes, can I take some of these?" And they were all like, "Fo shizzle my nizzle." So I did.
Technically I got them to bring home to Shiloh. But I'm going to read them first.
~ If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not the sport for you! ~
*EDIT*
Ok, so looking back on it I realize that my comment on "stupid people" was at the least cynical and at the worst (dare I say it) downright rude. I really don't have room to talk...I mean, my own father isn't exactly what you'd call genius material, and yet here I am. And I'm happy of my existence. When I say stupid people I mean more the people that are jerks and that you wouldn't want to leave a dog with, let alone let them raise the future leaders of America. That's still pretty rude, but what I'm trying to say is: I do lots of stupid things. I do lots of idiotic things. I do lots of colossally moronic things. But I do try not to be a jerk.
Why is it all the smart people that choose not to reproduce, and the stupid people that breed like rabbits? Is there something wrong with that picture? But moving beyond that:
The Hawkins show last night! I think it went fantastically well. We had a good sized audience (the room was crowded, not that gigantic of a room, but it was crowded) (kinda quite crowd at that), the regulars were there, free pizza was there. All in all, a winning combination. I invoked Happy Feet in Benji by giving him one of the fliers from our floor that advertised us as the "Ship of fool improve comedy club". I think that we do improve comedy.
So today at work I got a windfall in the form of 19 Science journals. We had a bunch that were donated that needed to go to recycling and it happened to be my job to mark them. Naturally I started getting interested in the pretty pictures on the fronts. So I was all like, "Yo homes, can I take some of these?" And they were all like, "Fo shizzle my nizzle." So I did.
Technically I got them to bring home to Shiloh. But I'm going to read them first.
~ If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not the sport for you! ~
*EDIT*
Ok, so looking back on it I realize that my comment on "stupid people" was at the least cynical and at the worst (dare I say it) downright rude. I really don't have room to talk...I mean, my own father isn't exactly what you'd call genius material, and yet here I am. And I'm happy of my existence. When I say stupid people I mean more the people that are jerks and that you wouldn't want to leave a dog with, let alone let them raise the future leaders of America. That's still pretty rude, but what I'm trying to say is: I do lots of stupid things. I do lots of idiotic things. I do lots of colossally moronic things. But I do try not to be a jerk.
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Bestseller list, here I come...
~ Jared lay on the floor, stunned. He’d felt the impact; he would have expected it to hurt, but all he could feel was the stinging burn on his palms where they’d gotten in between him and the rough concrete on his way down.
He saw his shirt, torn and stained, on the floor in front of him. His hand inched out, reaching feebly for it. Reaching for that little bit of his shredded dignity. Had he thought about it he would have realized that he probably couldn’t get it over his own head. He didn’t think about it.
Akbar and the guard each grabbed him by an arm and hauled him upright. Had he been able to take a breath, Jared would have screamed. He’d never in his life felt pain like this. He begged himself to blackout. At that moment in time Jared would have given his soul to the devil if only the searing pain shooting down his back would stop for two seconds.
After what seemed a short eternity the pain waned enough for Jared to realize that his lower back and legs were strangely numb. Icy panic hit him. He was paralyzed, he was sure of it. His mind raced, searching for a way out. He was completely helpless. Suddenly the images flashing through his mind stopped. Through the fog of agony the picture snapped into focus. It was his father, sitting in the nursing home. He looks up, he smiles. Today he remembers. Had they told him? Had the Agency told him anything about this?
With a start Jared returned to the present. The guard on his right was raising a short thick wooden club, just like the one Akbar, out of sheer rage, had cracked over the small of Jared’s back only moments ago.
He opened his mouth. His voice didn’t sound like his own. The club began descending.
“I love you dad.”
The thud of wood on bone, and the beautiful merciful darkness swallowed Jared again. ~
~It's me again, as if you couldn't have guessed.
He saw his shirt, torn and stained, on the floor in front of him. His hand inched out, reaching feebly for it. Reaching for that little bit of his shredded dignity. Had he thought about it he would have realized that he probably couldn’t get it over his own head. He didn’t think about it.
Akbar and the guard each grabbed him by an arm and hauled him upright. Had he been able to take a breath, Jared would have screamed. He’d never in his life felt pain like this. He begged himself to blackout. At that moment in time Jared would have given his soul to the devil if only the searing pain shooting down his back would stop for two seconds.
After what seemed a short eternity the pain waned enough for Jared to realize that his lower back and legs were strangely numb. Icy panic hit him. He was paralyzed, he was sure of it. His mind raced, searching for a way out. He was completely helpless. Suddenly the images flashing through his mind stopped. Through the fog of agony the picture snapped into focus. It was his father, sitting in the nursing home. He looks up, he smiles. Today he remembers. Had they told him? Had the Agency told him anything about this?
With a start Jared returned to the present. The guard on his right was raising a short thick wooden club, just like the one Akbar, out of sheer rage, had cracked over the small of Jared’s back only moments ago.
He opened his mouth. His voice didn’t sound like his own. The club began descending.
“I love you dad.”
The thud of wood on bone, and the beautiful merciful darkness swallowed Jared again. ~
~It's me again, as if you couldn't have guessed.
Monday, October 30, 2006
The show must go on...
...and it did at that!
I'm speaking of the Annual Ship of Fools Halloween Show of course.
I believe I'll skip right to my favorite part of the show. In fact, I think I'm safe in saying it was a lot of people's favorite part of the show. The zompocalypse. Yes, you heard right. There was a zompocalypse. During the show. The Halloween show.
Perhaps I should begin at the beginning.
During the show Ryan got Benji out of the room by cleverly planning a Press Conference, in which Benji was the celebrity. Once the door was shut tight The Rex gave us the lowdown. Benji is looking forward to the zompocalypse...and (correct me if I'm wrong, Benji) is apparently hoping for it to happen on his wedding day. Our parts in the ordeal were assigned and signals arranged. Benji was called back in and did a successful Press Conference. That's when things started to get interesting.
Ryan immediately got him back on stage after PC was over for a Blind Lines game. The setting: Benji's wedding. The scene is going fine. Some good advice was passed on from Ryan's grandma ("Today you are a real boy!") and so on and so forth.
Suddenly, oh my gosh! What's that? Zombies! It's the zompocalypse!
Ryan: "What do they want?!"
Zombie Audience: "Braaaiiins."
Ryan: "When do they want them?!"
Zombie Audience: "Braaaiiins."
As one the zombies rose to their cold dead feet, reaching for the two mortals with their stiff clammy arms, a vacant otherworldly glint in their collective eye, and started shuffling forward.
Ryan (snatching up his shotgun and throwing down a chair to entrench himself behind): "Benji! Defend yourself!"
Benji (pulling out his cane sword, prepared to fight off the un-dead hordes with his second at his back): "To infinity and beyond!"
It was a lot of fun.
~ "I'd like to smear you in chocolate and have some fun with you." ~
~ Spanke, last line of If You Know What I Mean
I'm speaking of the Annual Ship of Fools Halloween Show of course.
I believe I'll skip right to my favorite part of the show. In fact, I think I'm safe in saying it was a lot of people's favorite part of the show. The zompocalypse. Yes, you heard right. There was a zompocalypse. During the show. The Halloween show.
Perhaps I should begin at the beginning.
During the show Ryan got Benji out of the room by cleverly planning a Press Conference, in which Benji was the celebrity. Once the door was shut tight The Rex gave us the lowdown. Benji is looking forward to the zompocalypse...and (correct me if I'm wrong, Benji) is apparently hoping for it to happen on his wedding day. Our parts in the ordeal were assigned and signals arranged. Benji was called back in and did a successful Press Conference. That's when things started to get interesting.
Ryan immediately got him back on stage after PC was over for a Blind Lines game. The setting: Benji's wedding. The scene is going fine. Some good advice was passed on from Ryan's grandma ("Today you are a real boy!") and so on and so forth.
Suddenly, oh my gosh! What's that? Zombies! It's the zompocalypse!
Ryan: "What do they want?!"
Zombie Audience: "Braaaiiins."
Ryan: "When do they want them?!"
Zombie Audience: "Braaaiiins."
As one the zombies rose to their cold dead feet, reaching for the two mortals with their stiff clammy arms, a vacant otherworldly glint in their collective eye, and started shuffling forward.
Ryan (snatching up his shotgun and throwing down a chair to entrench himself behind): "Benji! Defend yourself!"
Benji (pulling out his cane sword, prepared to fight off the un-dead hordes with his second at his back): "To infinity and beyond!"
It was a lot of fun.
~ "I'd like to smear you in chocolate and have some fun with you." ~
~ Spanke, last line of If You Know What I Mean
Sunday, October 29, 2006
The Insane Simians...
...or something like that. Yup you guessed it! It's tomorrow! So I'm writing about what was today, but is now yesterday, per the plan laid out yesterday. Yeah.
So Saturday I went to see the Crazy Monkeys for the first time in my long and eventful life. Up to this point they'd always had their shows on a Friday night, and anybody with two brain cells to rub together should know that there is no way on the bosom of the good Mother Earth that I'd play traitor to the Fools to see the Monkeys in action. There's just no way. None.
But this week they had a show on a Saturday. So I went. And now I shall try to report on it, in as honest and unbiased way as possible. Stop that snorting! It's not polite.
So anyway, the C. Monkeys, I was disappointed to find out, went more for the short form genre (though their short form games are longer then ours, but I'm getting ahead of myself).
The games they played were:
~Evil Twin (good game, one we don't do)
~Chain Murder Mystery (which looking back on I really should have volunteered for!)
~World's Worst
~Vacation (same as our slide show, except they had two people telling about the trip and the other members weren't necessarily all in all the slides all the time),
~Slo-Mo Sports (another one we don't do, quite entertaining)
~Nightmare Day-in-the-Life-Of
~Do Rap
~Head-in-a-Bucket (or Oxygen Deprivation) (which I had read of and was happy to see performed, though they didn't justify being wet as was set out in the instructions I read. Difference of preference I imagine. Any game that requires 6 beach towels and a mop to clean up after should be funny.)
~And finally Anti-Freeze (like freeze, but the scenes have to all be related, backwards in time. Complicated, hard to do I've no doubt)
And now the Compare N' Contrast!
Monkey Pros:
~Jane Goodall
Bwhahahahahaha! No but seriously folks. She's a chimp expert.
~Great character potential! They had six members and all of them seemed extremely versatile and creative.
~Good shirts, with their names.
~Great teamwork/communication. They all seemed comfortable going into a scene where they had to completely depend on the other person not to drop the proverbial ball.
Monkey Cons:
~King Kong
Bwhahahahhaha! Oh come on, like you didn't see that one coming!
~I think the group would be brilliant in long form. Character development is crucial to short form, but you can't spend to much time on it.
~They have names. We have nicknames!
~They're games seemed a bit loose round the edges. I have come to learn that timing is all important, especially knowing when to end a scene. End while the audience is laughing and before they get tired of the game. Our games (even the identical ones such as CMM) seemed much more fast paced and hard hitting. (case in point, they had 9 games for a set that was about 75-80 minutes. We plan 12-14 games for a 45 minute set.) With theirs, it was harder to follow because you weren't necessarily on the edge of your seat.
True, I laughed aloud at the Monkeys. False, it was not uncontrollable laughter, as is usually the case with the SoF. With them, I found that I was laughing more at the various character developments that they were incorporating. Again, I'd still like to see them in long form. Or longer form I guess. I'd like to reiterate, I am frankly jealous of some of their members ability to completely embody a character.
But the Fools still win.
So there ya have it! My contributions to the show?
~CMM location: In the dimple on a golf ball.
~Vacation destination: The Moscow Kremlin
~Do Rap name: Jill
With great regret and sadness I must report that I was not able to use the suggestion "zompocalypse" for Benji, who was with me in spirit, but actually being productive in body.
To end with an all too applicable quote:
Kyle: "It kind of looks like Curious George."
Benji: "It looks like curious something!"
~Annual SoF Halloween Show, 2006
Join us again tomorrow when we'll learn all about the Annual SoF Halloween Show and the party thereafter!
So Saturday I went to see the Crazy Monkeys for the first time in my long and eventful life. Up to this point they'd always had their shows on a Friday night, and anybody with two brain cells to rub together should know that there is no way on the bosom of the good Mother Earth that I'd play traitor to the Fools to see the Monkeys in action. There's just no way. None.
But this week they had a show on a Saturday. So I went. And now I shall try to report on it, in as honest and unbiased way as possible. Stop that snorting! It's not polite.
So anyway, the C. Monkeys, I was disappointed to find out, went more for the short form genre (though their short form games are longer then ours, but I'm getting ahead of myself).
The games they played were:
~Evil Twin (good game, one we don't do)
~Chain Murder Mystery (which looking back on I really should have volunteered for!)
~World's Worst
~Vacation (same as our slide show, except they had two people telling about the trip and the other members weren't necessarily all in all the slides all the time),
~Slo-Mo Sports (another one we don't do, quite entertaining)
~Nightmare Day-in-the-Life-Of
~Do Rap
~Head-in-a-Bucket (or Oxygen Deprivation) (which I had read of and was happy to see performed, though they didn't justify being wet as was set out in the instructions I read. Difference of preference I imagine. Any game that requires 6 beach towels and a mop to clean up after should be funny.)
~And finally Anti-Freeze (like freeze, but the scenes have to all be related, backwards in time. Complicated, hard to do I've no doubt)
And now the Compare N' Contrast!
Monkey Pros:
~Jane Goodall
Bwhahahahahaha! No but seriously folks. She's a chimp expert.
~Great character potential! They had six members and all of them seemed extremely versatile and creative.
~Good shirts, with their names.
~Great teamwork/communication. They all seemed comfortable going into a scene where they had to completely depend on the other person not to drop the proverbial ball.
Monkey Cons:
~King Kong
Bwhahahahhaha! Oh come on, like you didn't see that one coming!
~I think the group would be brilliant in long form. Character development is crucial to short form, but you can't spend to much time on it.
~They have names. We have nicknames!
~They're games seemed a bit loose round the edges. I have come to learn that timing is all important, especially knowing when to end a scene. End while the audience is laughing and before they get tired of the game. Our games (even the identical ones such as CMM) seemed much more fast paced and hard hitting. (case in point, they had 9 games for a set that was about 75-80 minutes. We plan 12-14 games for a 45 minute set.) With theirs, it was harder to follow because you weren't necessarily on the edge of your seat.
True, I laughed aloud at the Monkeys. False, it was not uncontrollable laughter, as is usually the case with the SoF. With them, I found that I was laughing more at the various character developments that they were incorporating. Again, I'd still like to see them in long form. Or longer form I guess. I'd like to reiterate, I am frankly jealous of some of their members ability to completely embody a character.
But the Fools still win.
So there ya have it! My contributions to the show?
~CMM location: In the dimple on a golf ball.
~Vacation destination: The Moscow Kremlin
~Do Rap name: Jill
With great regret and sadness I must report that I was not able to use the suggestion "zompocalypse" for Benji, who was with me in spirit, but actually being productive in body.
To end with an all too applicable quote:
Kyle: "It kind of looks like Curious George."
Benji: "It looks like curious something!"
~Annual SoF Halloween Show, 2006
Join us again tomorrow when we'll learn all about the Annual SoF Halloween Show and the party thereafter!
Saturday, October 28, 2006
The things they are a happenin'...
...and never were six words spoken more truly...truthful...truthfully...with a lot of truth!
Today we're actually going to start something new, since my last few days have been just so jam packed with news. To try our best to avoid the freakishly long and tortuous post we're going to try...wait for it...series!
You see, today I will tell you about today. Tomorrow I will tell you about yesterday. Follow me? And then the day after tomorrow I will tell you about the day before yesterday. It all makes so much sense!
Ok, today starts at midnight. Round about midnight if I remember correctly I was probably sitting on Kyle's couch rocking out to Ryan "T. Sexy" Garwood's party mix CD's. "Who was sitting with you?" You inquire inquisitively. Well I'll tell ya, seating was a hot commodity last night. The party (see tomorrow's post for the beginning of the party which started yesterday) was really standing room only, and there wasn't even much of that. There was a lot of shuffling going on. In short, I was probably with some combo of Kara, Cowboy, Benji, and Freshman.
It was great fun, Cowboy got Kara trained for the reflex arm raising and "Huzzah!" whenever she hears "Time out". He also made repeated attemps to haze me.
Cowboy: "Noob! Did I give you permission to use the trash can?"
Me: (in his face) "No, no you didn't!"
Cowboy: "Good job, way to stand up for yourself."
And:
Cowboy: "Did I give you permission to touch the Benji, Noob?"
And:
Cowboy: "Did I give you permission to speak, Noob?
My responses were pretty much consistent throughout (aka blatant denial, insubordinate backtalk, picketing, etc).
Cowboy: "I haze because I care."
The whole shebang went on until about 2:30 this morning, but more about that tomorrow.
Unfortunately it was not all fun and games for everybody. A car caught fire in the Wood St garage. I was not present but word on the street is that there was also at some point an explosion involved (having seen the aftermath I am inclined to believe this). Because he has the darndest luck in the world, Alex's car happened to be parked next to the one that exploded. When he was ready to leave he went out to get his car and it wasn't there. They'd had all three of the cars (the Jeep that started the whole thing, SOG's beautiful new red 2003 Corolla, and the Ranger that was on the other side of Alex's car) towed after the fire department had got them extinguished.
This morning I drove him and his girlfriend down to the towing yard to take pictures and see if there was anything to be saved inside it. It's terrible. The whole drivers side scorched, most of the windows broken, most of the interior burnt or melted...
All I have to say is, I'm sure glad Alex wasn't in there when it happened!
Two things we all found very helpful were the man that they sent out to watch us looking at the car and his buddy that joined us after a bit (we were thinking that they were possibly imported from Alabama) . Their comments ran along the lines of:
~Guy #1: "It smells like burnt car." I'm not exactly sure what he thought we'd think it smelled like...
~Guy #2: "Hey, your water bottle on the floor survived just fine!" Oh, thank goodness!
~Guy #1: "Those CD's should be just fine if you cut the cases off and leave em to dry face down on a shelf for a day."
~Guy #2: "Was he a forner?" Referencing the owner of the Exploding Jeep.
Guy #1: "Yeah, couldn't speak no English!"
Guy #2: "That explains it!"
Ok, so my series plan is working great, but so far we've only gotten through the first 12 hours of today. We'll extend the series! Tomorrow (which will then be today) I'll talk more about today (or yesterday, tomorrow), and then the day after tomorrow I'll talk about yesterday which will at that time the day before yesterday, and then the day after the day after tomorrow I'll talk about the day before yesterday. Ok?
Until next time (tomorrow):
Guy #1 "It'll all be ok once the insurance man gets out that checkbook and starts writing."
Today we're actually going to start something new, since my last few days have been just so jam packed with news. To try our best to avoid the freakishly long and tortuous post we're going to try...wait for it...series!
You see, today I will tell you about today. Tomorrow I will tell you about yesterday. Follow me? And then the day after tomorrow I will tell you about the day before yesterday. It all makes so much sense!
Ok, today starts at midnight. Round about midnight if I remember correctly I was probably sitting on Kyle's couch rocking out to Ryan "T. Sexy" Garwood's party mix CD's. "Who was sitting with you?" You inquire inquisitively. Well I'll tell ya, seating was a hot commodity last night. The party (see tomorrow's post for the beginning of the party which started yesterday) was really standing room only, and there wasn't even much of that. There was a lot of shuffling going on. In short, I was probably with some combo of Kara, Cowboy, Benji, and Freshman.
It was great fun, Cowboy got Kara trained for the reflex arm raising and "Huzzah!" whenever she hears "Time out". He also made repeated attemps to haze me.
Cowboy: "Noob! Did I give you permission to use the trash can?"
Me: (in his face) "No, no you didn't!"
Cowboy: "Good job, way to stand up for yourself."
And:
Cowboy: "Did I give you permission to touch the Benji, Noob?"
And:
Cowboy: "Did I give you permission to speak, Noob?
My responses were pretty much consistent throughout (aka blatant denial, insubordinate backtalk, picketing, etc).
Cowboy: "I haze because I care."
The whole shebang went on until about 2:30 this morning, but more about that tomorrow.
Unfortunately it was not all fun and games for everybody. A car caught fire in the Wood St garage. I was not present but word on the street is that there was also at some point an explosion involved (having seen the aftermath I am inclined to believe this). Because he has the darndest luck in the world, Alex's car happened to be parked next to the one that exploded. When he was ready to leave he went out to get his car and it wasn't there. They'd had all three of the cars (the Jeep that started the whole thing, SOG's beautiful new red 2003 Corolla, and the Ranger that was on the other side of Alex's car) towed after the fire department had got them extinguished.
This morning I drove him and his girlfriend down to the towing yard to take pictures and see if there was anything to be saved inside it. It's terrible. The whole drivers side scorched, most of the windows broken, most of the interior burnt or melted...
All I have to say is, I'm sure glad Alex wasn't in there when it happened!
Two things we all found very helpful were the man that they sent out to watch us looking at the car and his buddy that joined us after a bit (we were thinking that they were possibly imported from Alabama) . Their comments ran along the lines of:
~Guy #1: "It smells like burnt car." I'm not exactly sure what he thought we'd think it smelled like...
~Guy #2: "Hey, your water bottle on the floor survived just fine!" Oh, thank goodness!
~Guy #1: "Those CD's should be just fine if you cut the cases off and leave em to dry face down on a shelf for a day."
~Guy #2: "Was he a forner?" Referencing the owner of the Exploding Jeep.
Guy #1: "Yeah, couldn't speak no English!"
Guy #2: "That explains it!"
Ok, so my series plan is working great, but so far we've only gotten through the first 12 hours of today. We'll extend the series! Tomorrow (which will then be today) I'll talk more about today (or yesterday, tomorrow), and then the day after tomorrow I'll talk about yesterday which will at that time the day before yesterday, and then the day after the day after tomorrow I'll talk about the day before yesterday. Ok?
Until next time (tomorrow):
Guy #1 "It'll all be ok once the insurance man gets out that checkbook and starts writing."
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Oh, you know you like it...
~ "Jared lay huddled in the corner, shivering violently, his shirt soaked with sweat and vomit. With irony that he found sacrilegiously out of place he thought that at least it was his own vomit.
They hadn't taken him out for any questioning for two days now. Tonight it would be three. Yesterday he'd prepared himself to die. When you're no good for information, you're no good for much of anything. But then, shockingly, they'd sent someone down with some food for him.
He just wanted the pain to go away. He wanted to sleep, but he couldn't. Before, the stress of one "good" interrogation session added to his illness had almost always left him unconscious for the rest of the day and night, but now it felt like he was painfully aware, every nerve taut and vibrating.
He shivered again, how long had he had this fever?
His mind snapped with unexpected clarity to Sam. Yes, Sam was here, or he had been here at least. Jared had almost forgotten. How long since he'd seen him? Days? Weeks? Jared wondered if they'd killed him. He thought that he should be more upset at that prospect but he couldn't make himself feel any emotion. His memory of Sam seemed so distant. Maybe there was no Sam, maybe he was a dream.
Jared surprised himself by almost laughing. If he was going to dream about somebody he would have wanted them to at least be female, and hopefully good looking.
He felt a sudden wash of guilt. Sam was here. He was real. Jared hoped that he was ok. His emotions finally caught up with his cognition and his eyes stung with tears. Sam was as close to a best friend as Jared had ever had.
The darkness started closing in on him. He pleaded with God for Sam to be alive...somewhere." ~
~From the mind of Renee
They hadn't taken him out for any questioning for two days now. Tonight it would be three. Yesterday he'd prepared himself to die. When you're no good for information, you're no good for much of anything. But then, shockingly, they'd sent someone down with some food for him.
He just wanted the pain to go away. He wanted to sleep, but he couldn't. Before, the stress of one "good" interrogation session added to his illness had almost always left him unconscious for the rest of the day and night, but now it felt like he was painfully aware, every nerve taut and vibrating.
He shivered again, how long had he had this fever?
His mind snapped with unexpected clarity to Sam. Yes, Sam was here, or he had been here at least. Jared had almost forgotten. How long since he'd seen him? Days? Weeks? Jared wondered if they'd killed him. He thought that he should be more upset at that prospect but he couldn't make himself feel any emotion. His memory of Sam seemed so distant. Maybe there was no Sam, maybe he was a dream.
Jared surprised himself by almost laughing. If he was going to dream about somebody he would have wanted them to at least be female, and hopefully good looking.
He felt a sudden wash of guilt. Sam was here. He was real. Jared hoped that he was ok. His emotions finally caught up with his cognition and his eyes stung with tears. Sam was as close to a best friend as Jared had ever had.
The darkness started closing in on him. He pleaded with God for Sam to be alive...somewhere." ~
~From the mind of Renee
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Something I thought was funny...
...A couple things actually.
1) A bit of AIM away message levity. For those of you playing along at home: docmilanowski = Benji, joyful zephyr = Me.
Auto response from docmilanowski: With a friend like joyful zephyr, who needs hallucinations?
Benji is always great entertainment late at night. If you know what I mean.
2) 668: Neighbor of The Beast.
3) Canadian DOS prompt: EH?\>
"Bwahahahahaha, oh Renee, you always crack me up!"
1) A bit of AIM away message levity. For those of you playing along at home: docmilanowski = Benji, joyful zephyr = Me.
Auto response from docmilanowski: With a friend like joyful zephyr, who needs hallucinations?
Benji is always great entertainment late at night. If you know what I mean.
2) 668: Neighbor of The Beast.
3) Canadian DOS prompt: EH?\>
"Bwahahahahaha, oh Renee, you always crack me up!"
Saturday, October 21, 2006
To the heights of insomnia...
...and beyond! Yeah, I can't sleep.
I got an interesting call today. It was from my old roomie. Yup, you remember her don't ya? Of course you do! How could you forget her! Our conversation pretty much went like this:
Me: "Oh, hi."
Her: "Hey, could you curl my hair at about 4:35?" (What do I look like? Your personal stylist?)
Me: "No, I've got something going already." (That something pretty much consisted of me wanting to take a nap.)
Her: "Even if I paid you?" (Yeah. Dignity, get your dignity right here! Cheap, close-out prices!)
Me: "Fraid not." (Over my cold dead rigor mortis afflicted body.)
Her: "Oh. Ok."
That conversation is pretty indicative of our general relationship.
I found this bit that I apparently wrote last semester stuck in a notebook. Hope you like it. Just for background info, this is before the Dynamic Duo get captured and subsequently tortured.
~Sam leaned back against the cool brick wall and took a few deep gasping breaths, eyes half shut. After a few moments Jared couldn't help but notice the state of things.
"What's wrong with you?", he demanded.
"I forgot to tell you, I'm a little claustrophobic."
Jared's eyes narrowed slightly. "Well pull it together. We don't have time for that."
Sam glared at him. "Thanks Jare, that really helps!"
Jared gritted his teeth. "Don't call me Jare!"~
~Me, s'all me baby.
I got an interesting call today. It was from my old roomie. Yup, you remember her don't ya? Of course you do! How could you forget her! Our conversation pretty much went like this:
Me: "Oh, hi."
Her: "Hey, could you curl my hair at about 4:35?" (What do I look like? Your personal stylist?)
Me: "No, I've got something going already." (That something pretty much consisted of me wanting to take a nap.)
Her: "Even if I paid you?" (Yeah. Dignity, get your dignity right here! Cheap, close-out prices!)
Me: "Fraid not." (Over my cold dead rigor mortis afflicted body.)
Her: "Oh. Ok."
That conversation is pretty indicative of our general relationship.
I found this bit that I apparently wrote last semester stuck in a notebook. Hope you like it. Just for background info, this is before the Dynamic Duo get captured and subsequently tortured.
~Sam leaned back against the cool brick wall and took a few deep gasping breaths, eyes half shut. After a few moments Jared couldn't help but notice the state of things.
"What's wrong with you?", he demanded.
"I forgot to tell you, I'm a little claustrophobic."
Jared's eyes narrowed slightly. "Well pull it together. We don't have time for that."
Sam glared at him. "Thanks Jare, that really helps!"
Jared gritted his teeth. "Don't call me Jare!"~
~Me, s'all me baby.
Insanity prevailed...
...and there was a slight breeze out of the northwest. Thus begins the everlasting record of the first ever SoF show with Kamikaze acting as helmswoman.
7:00-9:30 After some initial practice and game run-throughs in Beering 2280 the troupe headed over to Stake n' Shake for some pre-show refreshments. While there we entertained the waitress immensely and played peek-a-boo with some cute little kid a couple seats down.
In addition, a plan for some supplemental income for the Fools was developed. The enterprise will be called Shank n' Shiv. "Having trouble in the showers? Call Shank n' Shiv! With the Deluxe Package we'll even supply the alibi!"
There may be stock options available shortly.
9:30-11:00 Arrived at Co-Rec and found not very many people in attendance as of yet. After some initial standing outside the back door tasting the "popcorn air" with Kyle (Benji and Cowboy being the onlookers) the group congealed in the middle of the large gym floor and rocked out to the jammin' tunes. A tiny isle of insane fun alone in the midst of hardwood basketball courts with a few seemingly solemn people skulking against the far walls and dodging in and out of shadows. And I'll tell ya, we've got some smoooooth dancers in this group! Some of the spectacular moves included: The Sprinkler, The Monkey, The Weird Little Thing You Do With Two Fingers Across Your Eyes, The Shopping Cart, The Slide, The Robot, and so forth. It was awesome!
And then someone said "Let's shoot some hoops!" And most of us took off down the room for some pseudo basketball. At first it was two on two, which morphed to three on three, and then Tripod jumped in. He was just playing for the team in the black shirts.
In no time at all we were bundled outside by our Fearless Leader for 5 minutes of fast paced warmups before our set was supposed to start.
11:00-11:45 "I want every one of you to be hoarse tomorrow!"~T. Rex
The acoustics sucked. But soaring above and beyond trifling issues such as not being heard, the SoF prevailed! Twas a good show! Unfortunately I missed some of it, what with being behind the performers you can't take in all the good facial expressions and stuff.
Some highlights included:
~A very active Countdown in which Alex hurt himself yet again by throwing himself (with gusto) at the floor, perhaps utilizing Douglas Adams' method of learning to fly? Where better to be distracted from hitting the ground then at an improv show? The game also included a lot of people carrying other people across the stage.
~The successful completion of a human pyramid (always funny!) during That's How It Really Happened. That always gives you a warm and tingly feeling when it gets pulled off.
All in all, a great evening!
"My phone's more manly then your phone!" ~ Cowboy
"Oh yeah, well my phone knows how to love a woman!" ~ Benji
7:00-9:30 After some initial practice and game run-throughs in Beering 2280 the troupe headed over to Stake n' Shake for some pre-show refreshments. While there we entertained the waitress immensely and played peek-a-boo with some cute little kid a couple seats down.
In addition, a plan for some supplemental income for the Fools was developed. The enterprise will be called Shank n' Shiv. "Having trouble in the showers? Call Shank n' Shiv! With the Deluxe Package we'll even supply the alibi!"
There may be stock options available shortly.
9:30-11:00 Arrived at Co-Rec and found not very many people in attendance as of yet. After some initial standing outside the back door tasting the "popcorn air" with Kyle (Benji and Cowboy being the onlookers) the group congealed in the middle of the large gym floor and rocked out to the jammin' tunes. A tiny isle of insane fun alone in the midst of hardwood basketball courts with a few seemingly solemn people skulking against the far walls and dodging in and out of shadows. And I'll tell ya, we've got some smoooooth dancers in this group! Some of the spectacular moves included: The Sprinkler, The Monkey, The Weird Little Thing You Do With Two Fingers Across Your Eyes, The Shopping Cart, The Slide, The Robot, and so forth. It was awesome!
And then someone said "Let's shoot some hoops!" And most of us took off down the room for some pseudo basketball. At first it was two on two, which morphed to three on three, and then Tripod jumped in. He was just playing for the team in the black shirts.
In no time at all we were bundled outside by our Fearless Leader for 5 minutes of fast paced warmups before our set was supposed to start.
11:00-11:45 "I want every one of you to be hoarse tomorrow!"~T. Rex
The acoustics sucked. But soaring above and beyond trifling issues such as not being heard, the SoF prevailed! Twas a good show! Unfortunately I missed some of it, what with being behind the performers you can't take in all the good facial expressions and stuff.
Some highlights included:
~A very active Countdown in which Alex hurt himself yet again by throwing himself (with gusto) at the floor, perhaps utilizing Douglas Adams' method of learning to fly? Where better to be distracted from hitting the ground then at an improv show? The game also included a lot of people carrying other people across the stage.
~The successful completion of a human pyramid (always funny!) during That's How It Really Happened. That always gives you a warm and tingly feeling when it gets pulled off.
All in all, a great evening!
"My phone's more manly then your phone!" ~ Cowboy
"Oh yeah, well my phone knows how to love a woman!" ~ Benji
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