Costume Idea Dump - Arcade Sona

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Help! Everyone is playing WoW again!

Help!

Help!

Everyone is playing WoW again!

Ah, World of Warcraft. You were a pretty good addiction back in 2006. I still think you played a big part in dissolving the relationship between me and my then boyfriend (as he was much more addicted than I was). I haven't touched you in over 2 years. That was the last time my new LAN friends played you seriously. I paid for the expansion, moved my character, and played for about a month before everyone gave up again. This time, it seems like your charms have drawn everyone back and they are much more serious about it. The "GAME CHANGING" expansion, Cataclysm came out almost a year ago, yet it's only NOW that they have decided to play. Why? Why can't people get away? You are THE poster child for online gaming. THE game to beat, even after over 7 years. I can't get away.

Do I want to play again? I don't know. Am I going to play again? Yes. Do I care enough to continue to play? I don't know. Do I hope we don't continue to play? Yes.

I'll give you a report once my scroll of resurrection wears off and I'm faced with burning more money in the money pit.

Bob Log III

Saw Bob Log the other night at 7th Street Entry. It was a blast! He is amazing live. A++ would see again.

Year of Music

Seeing Tally Hall in concert inspired me. I want to make music again. It's been far too long since I've participated in a recital, concert, or any organized music making of any kind. Singing in the car just doesn't cut it for me anymore. I need to make music.

I've been daydreaming about using the space in the basement of our new house. The space that is slightly dank and is practically unusable for anyone taller than me due to the retrofitted air conditioning system in the house. I need to carve out a corner of that space and make an area for recording music.

Now, this might be a lofty goal, but here goes: For a year, I want to make a song a month, each month in the style of a band of my choosing. It'll be a musical dissertation of sorts. I will choose bands/composers and study what makes their style unique, then try to copy it. Of course, I do not know how to play every instrument there is, but that's where a program like FL Studio will come into play. I've got a violin, a midi controller keyboard, an electric guitar, 2 acoustic guitars (currently at my mother's house), an electric drum set, and my vocal chords at my disposal. If this ends up becoming a lot of fun for me/actually happening, maybe I'll pick up a cheap electric bass. I've also got microphones and the box needed to hook everything up to my computer. I might be able to use my old laptop for this project. Otherwise, I may need to build a spare part machine.

I figure I'll start trying to get this set up (I should have all the equipment) after moving and learn FL studio, etc. Make 2012 the Year of Music.

Right now, the bands/genres I think I'd try to copy:
- The Beatles
- Tally Hall
- Captain Beefheart (might need to borrow Moose's clarinet)
- The Strokes
- Andrew Bird
- Deadmau5
- Lemon Demon
- Something classical, violin solo Mozart, maybe?
- Something almost purely a capella
- Nintendo/Gameboy bit tunes
- Blues or Jazz ... would need to pick someone
- RANDOM! (or something else awesome if I make it this far)

Tally Hall's Internet Show

The re-release of Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum in 2008 was supposed to coincide with the release of Tally Hall's Internet Show. There are some gems here, and some other music videos.


http://www.hiddeninthesand.com/wiki/index.php?title=Tally_Hall%27s_Internet_Show

Lemon Demon - Toy Food

I've had this song stuck in my head all day:


Also, the youtubepoop for more added fun-time:

Oscar Painting

Almost done with my latest painting, thanks to a lovely Art-filled afternoon with my friends.

This is my sister's dog Oscar. The painting is actually bigger than he is in real life!

Bag of Crap Update

2.8lbs.

Estimated arrival: 2/15/11

WOOT

Your order for 1 Bag of Crap on 01/25/2011 has been recently shipped via SMARTPOST.

WOOT!

Woot Shirt Quilt

I have decided the fate of my numerous unused woot shirts. I'm going to make a quilt. I'll probably try to follow this guide.

I've gotten rid of, given away, or lost several over the years. But I think I might still have enough to do it. Depends on how much other area I use. See list of my purchased woot shirts here.

We'll see when I have the chance to start on it. If I get access to a sewing machine, it shouldn't take too long.

Ohm

From Reddit:

Hotel, Motel, Holiday Inn

Sugarhill Gang - Rapper's Delight



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NWA - Findum Fuckum and Flee



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Pitbull - Hotel Room Service

ZOMG. SOLID STATE QUANTUM PROCESSING.

ZOMG. SOLID STATE QUANTUM PROCESSING.

- * -

I haven't had a chance to read this yet, but I'll try to edit this blog post when I do.

The nerd-o-meter

I by no means condone this so-called nerd-o-meter but I will give you my score if you are interested.

Part one: knowledge and skills [computers] : 28pts

Part two: knowledge and skills [science]: 24 pts

Part two: knowledge and skills [math(s)]: 18 pts

Part three: lifestyle: 23 pts

Part four: nerd humour: 11 pts

Part five: others
Linguists: 9 pts (fail)
Philosophers: 8 pts (also fail)
Politics:6 pts (fail again)

GRAND TOTAL: 127 pts => 110 - level 5: Hardcore nerd. No time for a social life

Summer

Yesterday was the first day of summer.

Right now in Minneapolis, it is 91 degrees fahrenheit with a 10mph wind and a humidity of 54%. "Feels like 96 degrees fahrenheit."

Right now in Duluth, it is 61 degrees fahrenheit with a 6mph wind and a humidity of 94%. "Feels like 61 degrees fahrenheit."

Oh Duluth, I adore thee.

100,000 miles

Sometime today or tomorrow, my car will reach a major milestone.

100,000 miles.

It's been a little over two years since I purchased my car. I remember going to the memorial day car fair at the DECC in Duluth. I was in love with Volvos because of my good old 89 Volvo I affectionately named "Friddy." There happened to be a Volvo at this car fair. A beautiful black 1998 S70 with a turbo engine and a spoiler. I took it for a test drive and couldn't help feeling like I was driving a more responsive version of my semi-decrepit Friddy.

I told my dad about it. The first thing he asked was "Does it have a good stereo?" Which is, of course, the most important thing to consider when buying a car.

After having my dad's friend THE ENGINEER look at the car, he decided, through smacking lips, that I would have troubles with this car because of its age. I would be better off spending an additional four grand and get a brand new economy car.

My dad, of course, listens to THE ENGINEER and not to the reputation of Volvos, and of course our history with Friddy. (On another note THE ENGINEER purchased Friddy in a time of dire straits and drives her to this day... sans brakes)

Eventually, my dad decided I *should* have the speedy black Volvo with the eight speaker factory stereo system. He'd pay a down payment and six months of insurance. I would be responsible for the remaining $6000 and insurance, a bill of approximately $300 a month for the next five years.

I was excited. I had a car. I immediately had repairs and issues, but have been fairly lucky for the last two years. One of the original intents for my car (which still does not have a name) was a trip to the Boston area for Lemonic Demonade. This did not happen due to concerns about my transmission (this turned out to be a faulty oxygen sensor).

I've been nowhere exciting in my car. Unless you count the nearly bi-weekly trips to visit my parents, or trips to and from LAN parties, friends houses, and exotic restaurants. Right now it has been used to travel to and from my job. A 50+ round trip drive every day. It has quickly put the miles on my car.

When I purchased my car (please help me name it), it had approximately 75,000 miles. In two years I've put 25,000 miles on it. I hope to have it for a while longer, maybe for much longer. It doesn't get the best gas mileage or work entirely correctly, but it is dependable and damned sexy. Perhaps I'll keep it until I pay it off. Mayhaps by then Friddy will have failed THE ENGINEER and he will be looking for a new purchase.

Another weekend, another LAN, another awesome time

Last weekend was another LAN weekend. I left from work at approximately 4pm on Friday afternoon and did not return to Minneapolis until 3pm on Sunday afternoon. There were a lot more people in attendance this month than in April (the last LAN I attended). I figure this is because it is now "summer vacation (whatever that means)."

We didn't play many games or watch many movies this LAN. In fact, people played a lot of the new game Prototype. Prototype is a single-player game... so, there wasn't much interaction for a great deal of the LAN. I played it for probably 5 hours or so. It is very enjoyable and it does not crash my computer. In the game, there is an disease outbreak in Manhattan, you have super powers, and apparently everyone is your enemy as you try to figure out what happened to you. I like it. If I get the chance, I will probably play the rest of the game.

Katherine also came to the LAN party, with The Ghost in tow. The Ghost is the name I gave to the computer I found on the curb. Fixed up with RAM, a new harddrive, and a fresh windows install, it works fairly well for most of the games that are played at the LAN parties. Granted, we play a lot of things like Starcraft and Diablo 2. Games from our childhoods. Le sigh. She seems to really enjoy the LAN and it gives her the chance to talk to nerdy boys and get away from Minneapolis. :-p

In other news, I took a different route to work this morning. Hennepin to 394W to 100S to 62W to 212. I left at about 7am and arrived here at 7:20am. Whoa. I am used to getting here in about 45 minutes. It is probably a combination of when I left and the route I took. I think I'll stick with this time schedule. This means I can probably leave work at about 4pm every day. I can dig it.

I hope to post another blog entry about grad school and what's been going on with all of that business. I also hope to post some of the new music I've been hearing on the radio on my way to work.

*goes back to comparing gerber files*

Paprika Opening Credits

Watched this movie for the second time lately. I really like this song, so I figured I'd post it here. Movie is definitely recommended. I'm going to look into watching more movies/anime by the same director.

Cold marble on a hot spring afternoon

I'm currently sitting on the floor of Walter Library.
I love this building... the ornate wonderfully crafted ceilings and pillars and floors... I know it was built with the cheap labor of the nineteen thirties, but I'd like to think that it was built with love.
After today, I love this building even more. It is building number 042.

It's even more fun to sit on the floor of Walter when you're eating a salted nut roll and have your hair up in a ridiculous bun. (MY BOYFRIEND MADE ME DO IT!)

The marble feels good after playing two games of bowling and two games of air hockey with Moose. His supreme fro (complete with headband making the top portion stick up even further) won over my top/side bun 3/4 times. Spending time with Moose is always fun.

Now I'm waiting for a meeting to start. Ugh.

At least I'm getting some interesting stares.

Weekend Bluez

I had another amazingly busy weekend. After a wonderful late night on Thursday (complete with Star Wars role play, X-Men Origins: Wolverine showing, and White Castle) I got up early to work on a project on Friday. After my meeting, Moose and I decided to go adventuring. He needed a shelf for his (not) broken projector and a cable for his xbox. I needed an excuse to avoid my homework. We decided to also try dinner at a place where you eat with your hands!! We ended up going to radio shack, the fabric store, axman, goodwill, menards, and pizza luce (not the original intended place of eating). We purchased: candy, airsoft guns, amazing posters, fabric for curtains, a couch, a coffee table, a shelf, a fan, a level, pizza, salad, and a brownie sundae. So... I now have an airsoft gun, a couch and a coffee table in my room. Also, I have an awesome poster of a man singing or yelling or something in my dining room. Perhaps I'll post pictures later.

After late night movies, I headed home at about 4am. I found that Mat and Tara were still up and wanted to go to Al's Breakfast. 6am corned beef hash. 7am bed. Ouch.

Saturday turned out to be equally enjoyable. During the day, Tara painted me up like a whore. That night, we had some chill blacklight fun in the basement and watched Howl's Moving Castle. Oh yeah, and I shot Tara in the neck with the airsoft gun and had to buy pizza pizza....

Sunday was Flight of the Conchords. In their amazingly short concert, they managed to make the obnoxious girl behind me laugh like a hyena. Overall: Amazing.

Upon coming home from FOTC, I realized I had again squandered my entire weekend. Lack of sleep and lack of productivity threw me into a funk. One more week of classes... One week of finals.... Everything due and done the 14th and 15th.

If I'm lucky, I'll be able to get my stuff done in the next 10 days. Don't look for me online or in video games. Hopefully I also won't go out and buy couches and airsoft guns. Glad I got that out of my system.... I'd so go do it again.