Still nomadic at work, borrowing offices where and when I can. The varying decor of people’s workspaces continues to intrigue me. Take, for example, this high-tech piece of equipment.
Classic. My favorite part is this:
Was this really an issue at some point?
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Bubbles — my first foray into custom vinyl toys.
Isn’t he a handsome devil?
Oh, don’t roll your eyes. You saw Harry Potter.
Greg sent me the story he submitted to Blizzard’s creative writing contest. It A) was awesome and B) got me to thinking. What is it about wizards? Why do the children of the Geek Nation love them so? I have a theory, and it starts with a little boy named Alex.
Everyone is stimulated by intellectual activity. Everyone is stimulated by physical activity. But, when one falls to atrophy, the other increases.
As a kid, I never got into sports. I assume this is a learned trait, as I am the progeny of geeks. I spent my time doing geeky things. Video games. Computers. Reading. All this time spent in abstractions naturally led to me being pretty decent at my classes (with the glaring exceptions of phys ed and penmanship), which in turn made me the target of your standard schoolyard bullying.
Thus, physical people are bad, intellectual people are good, and there’s no such thing as being both — so said young Alex’s mind. Anyone who played a sport was separate from my kind, and they certainly didn’t want me around.
It took me a very long time to get past this mental division. “People can be smart AND jocks? Nonsense. One camp or the other.”
So, when narrative comes into play, who is an incurable young geek going to tend towards? Rough-and-tumble heroes who punch they’re way through problems (which are inevitably caused by evil geniuses)? Uh, no. Have you seen the way those guys treat the bookworms (who are only brought along to crack some code, anyway)?
Enter the wizards. People who possess the ability to interact with the physical world directly through their minds. A few mumbled phonemes from a dusty tome and BOOM — problem solved. Ancient languages. Books. Knitted brows. These are the things I could get behind.
All of a sudden mental skills outweigh physical ones. Abused kid kept under the stairs? No longer. Now he’s a wizard so powerful no one makes fun of his glasses.
But then there’s the problem of Hermione Granger. So much of an egghead that other wizards make fun of her. You don’t want to be like that, do you? Best get yourself on the quidditch green. Some air would do you good.
I’m temporarily nomadic at work. A new office is being cobbled together for me, so I’m camping out at a retiree’s former workspace.
She likes cats. A lot. How much, you ask?
Enough to tape a picture of a cat to the paperclip holder.
Garv and Lisa bought a house. Jess and I trundled over there to see what we could do to help during this, the first weekend of their ownership. In order to be prepared, I stuck a bunch of tools in my man-purse. Can you tell which one is mine?
Let me make it easy for you — mine’s the one with the sonic screwdriver.
P.S. Took this picture with the DSi, and I’m pretty satisfied with it.
I’m posting this from the Opera browser in the Nintendo DSi. My experience with the device so far has been a positive one.
And yet, still no internal document storage. Alls I’m looking for is to be able to jot a note down and to email it later. Come on Nintendo — hear my plea.
Would I move to Irvine, CA for the perfect job?
Thing A) Blizzard — the company that brought you Warcraft etc. — is holding a fan fiction contest. Well, they’re calling it a ‘creative writing contest’, which it is, but it’s a fan fiction contest.
Thing B) Blizzard also posted a writer job for an upcoming game.
It doesn’t seem like much of a reach to think that the contest is a recruitment tool, especially considering that the entry form asks for your published writing experience and if you would like to become a professional writer. Oh, and the prize is a trip out to Irvine to meet the Blizzard writers. In the HR biz, that’s what we call an “interview”.
Now, does this or does it not sound like THE job for your old buddy Alex? Everything I have ever had published has had to do with video games, including two VG writing-related contests.
But would I move to Irvine? Sell the house, say goodbye to casual porch nights and nearby family? Have to take a plane every time I wanted to see someone?
And what the hell would I do with the other grand prize: Frostmourne?
I really just can’t bear it anymore. I see and hear that damned word everywhere. Iconic is not a synonym for “good” or “popular”, amigos.
Today’s link is possibly the worst use of the hated word to date. “Which music do you find most iconic from LucasArts’ games?”. Criminy. Music is iconic now?
At many points over the last year I have found myself in several situations in which having a calling card would make things easier. And not just because I’m a Victorian at heart. The magazine, the play, overtures from an art board, newfound family etc. etc. — carrying around a slice of study paper with my contact info on it would have come in handy.
A few weeks ago, moo.com re-caught my attention. Here’s a site that makes nice full-bleed cards for a reasonable price. There are a few places out there which say they make cards for free, but they look spurious at best. And Moo is in Britain. I mean, come on.
So I get to the process of making a design for myself. It should come as no surprise that I end up with a space invader. A few minutes in gimp and I’ve got the pattern set.
But what about color? Fortunately, colourlovers.com provides lots and lots of excellent palettes. And, based on the spelling, again with the Britishness.
And there you have it — tiny little calling cards, perfect for most occasions. Don’t be shy now — give it a shot.
Has Twitter replaced blogging?
I’m seeing a lot fewer “I’m so annoyed by that guy who cut me off”-type posts recently. Facebook stati and Twitter updates (which I just refuse to call Tweets) are almost exclusively made up of this kind of content. So, why blog?
I encourage all to keep their blogs, even if you only post once week, a fortnight, a month. From time to time, you’re going to have an idea which can’t be easily communicated in 180 characters, and when that time comes, you’ll be glad to click that rusty blogger.com link.
The good news is that when I get an RSS notification that a new post is up, it’s likely going to be something more than a one-liner. Maybe constant communication will actually force us to become better writers.
That being stated, here’s a funny video.