Catching up with Doug at the end of January

(13:15:18 CST)

Catching up with Doug at the end of January

Half the time when people ask me what I am up to (especially my family), I like to respond: being boring. That sums it up really. I tweak this blog, read various books, work at the reference desk, and go to class. I watch a number of British TV shows and some movies. I hang out with Sarah. That is about it. This is not a complaint, mind you. I like the simple life. It fulfills pretty much all my needs. It just does not add up to anything like interesting stories:

"The other day, I was reading this book, right, and took a sip of tea and it was well hot. BURNED MY TONGUE, IT DID!"

See? Being boring.

Class is going well. The semester started out on a weird foot, though, and the vibe of the class has failed to solidify because of it. The first week, classes were canceled due to the bowl game (ROLL TIDE and all that). By the second week, things were getting started. However, a VPN issue has been plaguing me in the one class and our other class had its second meeting literally disrupted by the tornado since our guest speaker was logging on from or near Downtown Huntsville. I am now fourth or so week into a fourteen week semester, and I feel almost as though I have done nothing (this is not true, but how I feel). It's frustrating.

I know, I know. Still boring. Ok, let's see what else is up. I got Dead Reign in yesterday. I'm excited about being able to play it. It is an RPG in the Palladium SDC system (that means something like structural damage capacity, basically their "normal" RPG line, as opposed to their mega- damage stuff). It involves zombies, which I am a big fun of, but getting tired of all of the flipping cash-ins surrounding. Much of the recent zombie merch is cheaply made and trying to profit off of the fad. Dead Reign actually looks like it takes the genre seriously. Its one big drawback might be the problem of getting all the zombie-lore into one book. Like the 90s-era White Wolf, who would distill dozens of differing myths into one world, Dead Reign maybe tries to squeeze a bit much in. Not sure, though. Those things come out in game play. I am thinking of a 3-4 player "test run" to see how it goes. By the way, it does include the now decades old rant about "True Neutral". Thanks, Siembieda.

Bookwise, nearly every single book I have bought recently has been discount copies of Doctor Who tie-in novels. For a while now, there has been a series of books that parallel the TV show but are about new adventures. You can often find them on Amazon.com for $3-$4 in the marketplace. Most of them could definitely be better, and some of them outright contradict the show, but they are fun and fluff and they are keeping me sane. I have also recently picked up the first 29 volumes of Bleach. I know I come down harsh on otaku-ism sometimes, but there are certain series that I get into. Bleach is one of the ten or so. My last book purchase of note was Jaron Lanier's You Are Not a Gadget, about the issues of Web 2.0 (meaning through consensus, rapid adoption of technology locking-in bad tech). I have only read the first bit of it, and some of his arguments seem valid but I am not sure it justifies book length yet. I'll review it in full, most likely.

I have also picked up a random selection of CDs ranging from The Strokes (This is It) to Vampire Weekend (Contra) to They Might Be Giants (Here Comes the Science) and even some interesting latin-themed music: Rodrigo Y Gabriela's 11:11 (how could I resist?) and Ximena Sarinana's ironically named Mediocre. The They Might Be Giants has gotten the most play, probably. It is technically for kids, but songs like "Meet the Elements" and "I'm a Paleontologist" are entirely too catchy.

I guess that about wraps me up. I am about to go get a big glass of tea and read for an hour or two. Sounds like Sarah has some home early. Oh well, maybe that kills the chances for reading...

Si Vales, Valeo

file under (...on Me in 2010)

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