A Simple Way To Go Faster Than Light That Does Not Work

12:18 pm - Trouble

Ricky came back with a report of Trouble, at the local church he visited for Mass this morning. During "the Peace", the bit in the service where congregants take a moment to semi-ritualistically offer handshakes and say Peace! to their immediate neighbors in the pews, Ricky saw that a little girl near him seemed to be ignoring him, so he tapped her on the shoulder. This was apparently met with some disapproval.

I explained to him that he really shouldn't touch people he doesn't know, ever, to say nothing of touching children. He immediately got argumentative, starting with "It wasn't a touch, it was a tap," and he insisted on reconstructing the scene, with me role-playing the girl (and then receiving what I'd describe as a light, four-fingered flail on the shoulder). "I was treating her like I would my own daughter!" he finally said.

Ricky's thought-paths, and hence interactions with other people, will always be fractured, in ways like this.

Going downstairs to finish our Bezique game now, before I escort him back to the bus station. He's pretty steamed about this and muttering continuously about how nobody understands what "Peace" means any more. I'll just nod at this.

09:11 pm - Ricky Day 2009

Today was Ricky Day, which we've celebrated more or less annually since 2001. As with every year, I meet it with a mix of warmth and resentment. I like seeing Ricky doing well, and I like to contribute to his well-being. But it nevertheless has the weight of Family Obligation on it, and it writes the whole weekend out from under me.

This year's different because of my cohabitation situation. classicaljunkie has met Ricky before, though (in fact we visited his apartment in Bangor in the fall of 2007), and is usually the first one to read the postcards that he has, since then, been addressing to the two of us together. She's been an excellent and patient co-host, helped by the fact that she can (in fact, must) frequently slip away to the upstairs office to work on her strict-deadline studies. I've been doing a little of that myself (observe my writing of these very words), and Ricky, for his part, has been a fine guest.

I think that he's less prone to "trouble" lately - his term for getting stuck in awkward social situations with strangers due to his communication problems. Which is to say: He's overcoming these problems, little by little. It's been a long and hard road for him, to recover this far. Go Ricky. Before his visit, I was recounting to Amy the many truly awful years directly following his head injury, when he was random, frustrating, often outrageous and sometimes violent and scary. In the more than 20 years since then, I can squint and see that as being a weird and broken kind of forced infancy, and maybe it took him the length of a second childhood and adolescence to learn to be an adult again...

Anyway, I was able to use the different living situation to negotiate a reduction in the length of his visit, so he's hanging around for about 48 hours this year, instead of the traditional Friday-to-Monday stay. So I'll be seeing him off tomorrow evening, back to South Station.

01:26 pm - Ricky Joke du jour

Ricky thought of this joke while in confession recently, and he insisted that we pause a Netflix viewing of "A Man for All Seasons" to tell it to us:

King Henry VIII sought absolution for his sins. The priest or bishop or whomever ordered him to say some Hail Marys.

"How many must I say?" asked the king.

"10 to the VIII!"

Ricky is now asking if he can use my iPhone to check his email, which he hasn't looked at since 2001, and got throuh the Bangor Library somehow.

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

03:40 pm - A-----

Here's a letter I just sent to ephotodiscounters.com, reprinted for your amusement. I did not P.S. this xkcd, but now wish that I had.

Howdy,

I just received a green screen and lighting kit that I purchased from your store via eBay. First of all, it seems great so far, so thanks for your prompt shipment!

I have a suggestion, however. I see some potential danger in the spring-loaded telescoping rods that make up the frame's side-stands. When I first unpacked one of these, I took it to be an ordinary telescoping rod. So I was quite surprised when I flipped down one of its fastening levers, and suddenly the inner rod - tipped with a thin metal screw - shot upwards rather dramatically.

Because I was standing to one side of the device, I simply jumped a little, and then laughed about it. But then I thought: oh boy, with a clumsier person, this could be a lawsuit waiting to happen. And so, to you, I might advise including a note or sticker with this frame that mentions these springs, and advises caution when loosening the levers.

That is all. Thanks!

11:40 pm - Working on the next Gameshelf

Logged three tapes today....



Why is mrmorse wearing that hat? Why is rikchik poking northern France? All will be revealed...

01:13 am - Munny

hey dudes

Money's on my mind again because Unforeseen Events caused the business to skid a little in May, and due to the latency of the billing cycle I'm weathering the financial sting of it right now. It's not like the newbie mistake I made a couple of years ago that left me with no business at all for a while, but it still smarts.

Lately, when money matters of any size injure me, I start obsessing about money and feeling bummed about how cash-poor I have often found myself. Since stepping out on my own four years ago, I seem to get into these areas a little too frequently: barely treading water, and laughing at the idea of saving. Listen: A bunch of new and nifty five-dollar computer games have recently appeared on my radar, and I haven't bought any of them, because I can't justify a five-dollar game purchase right now. That my friends is chilling.

There is a small but resolute part of me that permanently holds the position that I've had my fun, but it's time to return to the safety of the salaried life, where I can get all the five-dollar games I want and also a 401(k). It knows it's always going to get outvoted, so it doesn't press the issue. But it does make sure to clear its throat every time a situation like this comes up, and it points out the most recent six-figure recruiter email I have received. "Just putting this out there," it says. "I know you're not asking for my advice. Take it as you will. Something to consider, is all." It makes humble and placating gestures.

Meanwhile, back in the world that exists outside of my skull, June 2009 has been the accounts-receivabliest month in Appleseed's history. This was in part due to a new partnership which has worked out very well so far, and I'm fighting (but not yet struggling) through a workload logjam in order to get a regular stream of new work going in that direction. So that's good.

Today I started casting out some lines looking for more work to better suit (and allow me to keep!) this increased work-capacity. I also attended a game-lunch at a friend's workplace that somewhat unexpectedly morphed into a miniature networking thing (hi guys), and it make me think that I ought to start going to more networking events outside the games bubble, or even the (somewhat larger) software bubble. Attend the sorts of events where I can hand out my Appleseed card and really mean it, see...

As for managing my money, I hope that I have finally found a way to say goodbye to the useless pile that is Quicken. I have created an account on yodlee.com, and filled it up with all my bank, credit card, investment and personal-loan information. I'm impressed with how well it's already categorized my existing spending history. I look forward to using it for a month, after which I'll see if I can't make a more realistic budget this time. And maybe not blow $100 in overdraft fees in one week...

12:42 pm - Backup grumble

To my adored TV talent, whom I have already emailed but just in case:

Tonight's Gameshelf shoot is CANCELLED. If you were planning on coming tonight, please don't, unless you happen to want to watch the taping of this week's "Dead Air Live". We had a scheduling foul-up.

Relatedly, I've lately been thinking about ways I could become less dependent on SCAT. This accident (not the first of its kind, for me) encouraged me to go ahead and purchase this setup, after it received the blessings of Joe-the-director as probably being OK for what I need. It will allow me to do one-camera green-screen shoots in my own home. This is good.

06:48 pm - Thinking of you, Ms. P.

Doing dishes and wiping away the permanent coffee stain on my kitchen counter (which will presently reappear, because my coffee-making habits are, uh, habitual) brought to mind perpetualpuddle, a sweet little poem of an LJ account, if one not used in many years.

I believe that surrealestate originally newgrouped it. Nice to see that it is still there. (See its user info for background.)

09:48 pm - Draw six, discard down to four

Lately, sitting at my desk, I feel like I'm playing Race or Cribbage, and all the cards in my hand work together so well that I really can't bear to discard any of them.

And, yes, as a result, I sit there sighing, rather than playing the goddamn game!

04:44 pm - Sign I've let myself get oversaturated in lolculture

When an automated software test says "Result: FAIL", my first reaction is to dismiss it as cheap sarcasm.

01:10 pm - Jmac.org Video Store is open!

I am pleased to announce the opening of the jmac.org video store, where you can buy DVDs of the first six episodes of The Gameshelf and Jmac's Arcade, respectively.

If you like the things I make, please consider buying a shiny discful of it! As it says on that page, your purchase helps me improve the state of game journalism and critique — and, by extension, supports quality amateur media from game-obsessed overthinkers everywhere.

05:10 pm - Iran

My selfish hope is that the events in Iran bring out positive - if not painless - changes in both that country and this one. In the Iranians, we Americans of all political colors see a sympathetic entity who has not just been wronged but outraged, by any objective standard.

It feels like 9/11 turned inside out. Rather than being challenged to come together to face a common threat, we're being challenged to come together to respond to a sudden and enormous wrongdoing in a place across the globe that, the day before, you and I might have had completely different opinions about.

I really hope we as a nation and a people can do a better job at meeting the challenge this time.

04:05 pm - I've been playing games

So, a lot's been going on. Good things!

I've been playing a lot of role-playing games lately. I hosted a game of The Shab Al-Hiri Roach a couple of weekends ago, and yesterday I helped classicaljunkie host a play-through of The Immortal Murders to celebrate her birthday. In both cases I found that I'm capable of playing storytelling RPGs, but also found it a draining activity rather than an energizing one. However, I'm not sure how much of that was due to the act of playing and how much was from the additional stress of hosting.

I prefer narrating to literal role-playing, and it was interesting to discover the difference between the two. (Roach, a tabletop game, allows both styles. Immortal Murders is more like a LARP, so either you're role-playing or you're not playing at all.) With both styles, though, I felt on-edge and tense the whole time my character was on the scene, like I need to be ready to jump in at any moment. After only a couple of hours of this, I was pretty exhausted. Compare to a board game, with its regular cycle of high and low periods that I can ride for many hours (if the game is compelling enough). It could be that I'm just not playing right.

11:17 am - "Monolith", free to good home

Howdy folks,

Yes, it's time for the "monolith" to move again. I accepted it from rikchik's home years ago, which in turn got it from another place. It was great at the time, but my current space has gotten too crowded for it, so someone else should take it home.

It's a big... thing, measuring 42" x 42" x 15". It has a raised base with feet, so it can be used as a low coffee table. It can also be stood up on-end and against a wall for use as a shelf.

Its surface is panels of black material (some of which I have nailed into place after the glue wore out) over particle board. I'm not sure what it's filled with. It's pretty damn heavy, so you'd be responsible for hauling it out.

Y'all get first pick. If I don't hear from someone today I'll post to wider circles tomorrow.

Thanks!

12:58 am - Costuming help request

Dear loanyweb,

Would anyone local to me be able to loan me a traditional German hat for the length of June? Am willing to put your name in an upcoming Gameshelf credit roll for it. :)

12:23 am - Spin around, ninjas

Why was I not informed of this before? "Literal" version of the "Total Eclipse of the Heart" music video:



I like how the humor starts out at an eye-rolling, i-see-what-you-did-there level, but starts getting more comfortable and clever a little way in.

The whole series of these videos is pretty good, with several el-oh-el moments, if you're me.

03:33 pm - IF meetup tonight @ MIT

I'm going to the Boston interactive fiction meetup tonight, 6:30, at MIT 14N-233 (Nick Montfort's office). Guest: Steve Meretzky. Come join!

(Ha ha, that was totally my first-ever pasted-in Tweet, suckas.)

http://groups.google.com/group/boston-if?hl=en

11:44 am - Bitching about Lost

( Just finished Season 5. )

01:14 am - Come roach with me

Dear Local Gamers,

Would anyone be interested in a game of The Shab Al-Hiri Roach at my place on Sunday the 31st? Starting at, say, around 3PM? Currently need at least a couple more players.

It's a one-shot RPG, and I intend it to act as my own introduction to narrativist role-playing games. I don't expect any other to have played this game before, either. I have no idea how it's gonna work, but I'm putting Vegas odds on it being a blast.

10:42 pm - Twiddle dee-dee

OK, so, I've been Twittering a lot, and I'm probably going to keep doing so. If you don't use Twitter or Facebook, you're missing a lot of the crap I'm writing every day. It's a different flavor of crap than what I write here (go look and see what I mean), but it's still crap by me, which is of theoretical interest to my friends.

So. Given my impression that some people react to this sort of thing with profound gross-out yuck, should I use a service like LoudTwitter to post my daily tweets on my LJ?

Poll #1406258 Twonk
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Hmm?