Redwolf's Journal (continued)

Thankfully, that's different different from being upset about it. Thanksgiving was okay, but it wasn't *Thanksgiving*. With my folks still playing campground hosts in Big Bend National Park (in southwestern Texas), I didn't get to spend the holiday with family. I knew this well in advance. I was invited to join another get-together, but passed. I might have enjoyed myself to a degree, but it still wouldn't feel *right*. Instead, I did a small bit of cleaning, relaxed, and treated myself to pecan pie. I also got a call from my dad saying they were going to stay an extra month, thereby being away for Christmas too. He's offered the loan of their car here if I want to drive down for Christmas, but... a drive that's close to 800 miles in late December during a holiday period sounds somewhere between "less-than-fun" and "dangerous." I'd also have to take some days off (not that I have a shortage of paid leave time) and figure out how to do...

Star Wars. Transformers. Star Wars Transformers: http://www.starwars.com/collecting/news/hasbro/news20051107.html

Life rolls on. It's already November. Oy. Some of the days feel long, but the weeks and months are going by all too quickly. It's time to think about Christmas presents. It's time to be solidifying plans for January's trip. It's more than a bit overwhelming to stop and think about it. But, in other news, I finally got around to pulling a book from my pile of 'unread and should remedy that' novels. So it was that I came to read "Kushiel's Dart." It was not what I expected. It was longer and slower to read. The reviews I'd seen on the web led me to expect graphic sex scenes that weren't there (though subject matter may still make some people uncomfortable). There was much more politics, and a far grander scale to the adventure than I ever would have guessed. In the end, it was better than I would have guessed, and I offer thanks unto those who recommended it. I may be getting soft, but I was move to both laugh and cry (often at the ...

So there I was, playing some Sly Cooper game. I was replaying a level that consisted of making it down a huge mountainside to a cartoony style military compound. With this crazy idea in my head, I decided to see if I could paraglide across the whole level. It worked. Pretty cool. But there was no level exit, which got me wondering if I'd screwed up the game somehow, or if I was really supposed to be going UP the mountain to a different base. Then I was sneaking through the (more realistic) base, Solid Snake-style. I was something between MacGuyver and a secret agent, there to affect the rescue of the Queen of England who had some secret information on her when she and a number of party-goers had been captured by some terrorist cult that was making use of the base. ... About the time I was being discovered, some OTHER group showed up, specifically after the cultists, causing enough chaos and destruction for me to accomplish my mission. I got the captives out, retrieved the jewelry...

*sigh* *flump* Emotions are tricky for me online. Sure, it's just text, but anyone who thinks emotion cannot be conveyed in this medium is fooling him/herself. All too frequently, I find bad moods passed to and from friends while MUCKing. Sometimes there's even cheering-up that happens. What's that have to do with anything? Well, tonight, I found my mood spiraling down while playing. As frustrated and annoyed as I got, I actually think I managed to remain civil. I didn't see anyone pulled down with me, and I didn't hear anyone asking what was wrong. It appears my deliberate efforts to avoid snapping really did manage to hide how I felt. That's unusual, in that I often don't have that much self-control. Is that a victory? It feels odd to say, but it is to me. Some of my friends are sympathetic enough that sharing my annoyances tends to drag them down into foul moods as well. To me, it's a success to avoid doing that, even if it means hiding how I fe...

Just a couple things I've neglected to comment on. Sly 3 (PS2): Short, but a pretty good game. I've thoroughly enjoyed the series since I was introduced to it even though I'm not a big fan of platform games. Serenity: Very good sci-fi movie. I don't think it matters so much if you were a fan of Firefly - my experience with the series was limited. If you're a sci-fi fan and actually haven't seen Serenity, you should. To say anything about what makes it good or what few critical comments I might have would hint at things in the movie. It's better to not know, and just watch it.

Well, I attended my first "annual" Homeowners Association meeting last night. This after having lived where I am for about a month shy of two years. It wasn't even my fault. They actually didn't have one last year, and in 2003 I was somehow not on record (thus didn't receive notice) even though I was perfectly settled in by the time the meeting happened in December. The complex has 23 units. 7 owners were present and several had written in, essentially making our property manager their proxy. As far as organization goes, things were very laid back, barely following any sort of protocol. The discussion, however, did get a bit heated. Mind you, no one was directing that at anyone else present, but there were still some strong feelings voiced. The big topic, taking about two-thirds of the hour-and-a-half meeting: dogs. By the rules, dogs are not allowed. In the last month, there have been increasingly blatant violations, including a quartet of pit bulls in one fe...