Useless Blogging

So this past week saw me take over larger roles in two of my hobbies (as they both have communities surrounding them).

The first is The Hollow City, where I went from Assistant Merits and Flaws Storyteller to Lead Merits and Flaws Storyteller. The lead under whom I operated went MIA for a bit, and then (apparently) finally reported that he wasn’t returning. Thus was I bumped, and today, here I am, one of five Big Cheeses in the game.

The second one was far more bittersweet, as I replaced my friend Wyzcrak as Game Officer for Natural Selection at Tactical Gamer (read the official news post). In this job, I have direct reports! Following in his footsteps will not be an easy task, and I’m quite grateful that he’s remaining part of the community, because I’m going to need all the help I can get.

Now, as soon as my job gets with the program and promotes me as well, life will be good.

Today (shortly) there’s a “transition meeting” for Sara with the county’s Infants and Toddlers program folks. Well, with a couple of them; of the multitude of people invited, only about three could actually show up given that it was scheduled for 1PM on a weekday, and everyone works for schools during the day.

I haven’t a clue what to expect out of this. It seems like it should be important, but I’m fearing that it’ll be an exercise in intellectual masturbation; a lot of talk amounting to nothing. Everything keys on the IEP, and this meeting is supposed to be a precursor to the writing of that, and of the IEP meeting that should come before Sara’s third birthday.

Here’s hoping.

Everyone wish my mom a happy birthday.
Or else.

Happy birthday, Mom. Thanks for everything, and here’s to many more.

The blog has been successfully upgraded to WordPress 2.0.2. Yet another thing most people don’t care about.

I may try out a new theme coming up here in a bit. You’ll notice when I do. I promise.

Recording Industry Association of America

Record companies lose. Eighty-five percent of recordings released don’t even generate enough revenue to cover their costs. Record companies depend heavily on the profitable fifteen percent of recordings to subsidize the less profitable types of music, to cover the costs of developing new artists, and to keep their businesses operational. The thieves often don’t focus on the eighty-five percent; they go straight to the top and steal the gold.

A thought here, then. Wouldn’t piracy pointed directly at the 85% be a good thing for the recording industry? Music would still get out, and they could save money by producing fewer copies of the low-tracking artist’s work.

Just a thought.

(PS: This link is arrived at by clicking “how to report piracy” on the RIAA’s main page. You’ll note the page has no information about how to report piracy.)

So I’ve made a conscious effort to drink a buttload of water. I’ve been pretty tired lately, and the last time I was this tired, I did some hardcore water drinking, and I seem to remember it working pretty well.

That said, I now realize why it worked so well. I’m forced to be more awake, because my bladder is filling every ten to twenty minutes, leading to great pressure and frequent walks.

Really, can’t help but be more awake in a situation like that.

So, in order to save a penny or two, I decided to bring up my curtain while I work and forgo the overhead light for the time being. This has had two effects.

First, the room is darker. Not that the sun is dark, of course, but the light coming from the window makes parts of the room dark that aren’t normally so when illuminated from overhead within the room.

Second, there’s a sunbeam in the morning, and apparently, when the sun makes contact with my office carpet, it emits an ultrasonic tone that cats find appealing, because both of my cats came into the room quite early and basked in the warmth, which is not part of their usual routine.

I finally worked out some kinks, and now this page validates as XHTML 1.0 Transitional.

Yes, I know most of you don’t care.

So I got this year’s SI Swimsuit issue, because I’m a lech and like to like at scantily-clad women. (Yes, you did read correctly, this is posted under “Philosophy”. I’ll get to that right now.)

One somewhat constant of these issues are advertisments in them featuring women in swimsuits. This puzzles me.

In a regular magazine, a scantily-clad woman would intrigue me. I’d look and go “Hey… you know, I think I could use some of that product! A hot woman obviously means better web hosting!”… or whatever. In the SI swimsuit issue, I have at my fingertips page after page of the most beautiful women in the world, sometimes, wearing nothing but paint. Another scantily-clad woman hawking an alcoholic beverage doesn’t do much. I look and say “Why’s that skeeze in my magazine?” because comparatively, it’s rather hard to top “supermodel”, particularly in a magazine full of them.

The same ad in Newsweek might be nutty good. Running it in a tech magazine aimed at nerds would be like a license to print your own money. In the SI Swimsuit Issue? Silly. Just silly.

My previous post mentioned me being in pain. To help, Julie was to bring me ice. She instead, brought me half a bag of frozen peas and carrots.

I love my wife. Really I do.