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What You Say?!?
February 27, 2005 1:53 pm
Went to
Maggiano's last night in Philly for a delicious all-you-can-eat
Italian meal. Also explored
Reading Terminal and was sorely tempted by
fresh spices and fish. Sometimes I really miss being closer to a major city. I'm not cut out for living in
one, but there's a vibrant pulse, a sense of adventure and mystery that I need to feel every now and then, to make
sure I'm still alive. In the suburbs, it's so easy to simply wither
away. It's a great place to raise children, but it's extremely unfulfilling for a young
woman recently out of college.
Oh, we also witnessed a bit of a scuffle outside the Barnes & Noble on Walnut. There was swearing and
punching and a bloody mouth but nothing too serious. Luckily a cop came out of nowhere (I guess they prowl the
streets of Philly at random) and broke the fight up. Later, in the bookstore, I overheard the officer giving his
report, and turns out the fight started for one of the stupidest reasons I've ever heard. One of the
men, a younger looking Asian, had been walking down the street with his girlfriend. His girlfriend mentioned
that he should button his coat, as it was chilly outside. Upon hearing her, the other participant, who looked to
be of Caribbean descent, made some snide remark about the Asian guy being whipped. And apparently the Asian guy just
blew up, throwing off his coat and assaulting the other man.
When I heard this, I thought, what a load of utter crap. This isn't middle school, this is real life and you
are two grown men. How low in confidence are you that the comments of a random guy off the street influences
you to violence? Do you really care what he thinks? You're never going to see him again. Be happy you
have a girlfriend who cares about your health and leave well enough alone. And seriously, have you nothing better
to do than make aggravating remarks towards total strangers walking down the street? Keep your thoughts to yourself
if they're not constructive and let the woman take care of her man. Of all the things to break into fists and earn a
citation over, this is simply not worth it. People can be such idiots sometimes.
February 24, 2005 8:40 am
Because he's starting long shifts at the pilot plant again and it's weird coming home to an empty
apt, the first two thoughts in my head today are about Vic:
He got me my favorite tequila, a beautiful bottle of
Jose Cuervo
Tradicional. Now,
this isn't your regular Margarita tequila - I wouldn't dream of taking a shot of anything below this bar
of quality, nor would I ever spoil its taste by mixing it with anything but
a lime and salt. To me, the Tradicional is like Godiva chocolate: a fine treat to be enjoyed in small,
appreciative doses, for savoring and rewarding oneself in a most delicious manner. I've been hunting for
a bottle of my own ever since Will Black introduced me to this particular delicacy, and it's been
extremely difficult to find (only a limited quantity distributed each year). The fact that
Vic keeps an eye out for it, then buys me one without my asking, only serves to show how lucky I am. After
6 years together, he's still such a sweetheart.
He also started to DM a D&D game that a bunch of us try to fit into our busy
schedules. He's not always handy with the rules, and he needs to improve clarity of
storytelling and setting, but overall he's doing a good job. It's turning out to be lots of
fun, which is really what matters. We
threw him for a loop last session, exploring an abandoned tower out of order and capturing a hostage for
questioning he wasn't prepared for. He covered quite well, though "Ravenclaw" is about as
generic fantasy bad-guy name you can get. I always thought he was a solid player, and
I think he's going to be an equally solid DM. He even worked a +1 Gnomish Hook-Hammer into the
plot without making it
look forced. The only problem is, he has this unhealthy obsession with Owl Bears (listen
check...16...you hear a distant hooting noise in the woods nearby...oh, no, you didn't...!)
For those of you not familiar with the Monster Manual, the Owl Bear is a silly creature:
February 19, 2005 12:07 pm
One of the most influential people in my life was my 5th grade art teacher. But it actually
wasn't in 5th grade that he effected me. During high school, I often went to the elementary school to
volunteer. That's when I befriended my old art teacher. We'd talk about art, I'd show him
drawings, and he'd recommend techniques and artists. One day, I think in 10th grade, he got all excited about a hot
new artist (well, not really "new" but the first collections had just been published) named
Luis Royo. Somehow knowing Royo was perfect for me, my art
teacher loaned me three books that had just come out:
Secrets,
Women, and
Malefic.
Needless to say, I was addicted. I studied those three books for weeks before returning them. I drew page after page trying
to capture that look, substituting my own characters, monsters, and stories. After filling my head with Tolkien and
Dragonlance; Dune and Foundation; Batman and
Akira; Neuromancer and Snow Crash, the type of art that Royo represented bridged my love of art to my
love of literature. Here
were the worlds and themes of fantasy, science fiction, and cyberpunk mixed with the exaggerated human figures of comic
books and anime; here was fiction brought to life; here was art that imitated imagination. Thanks to
Royo, I did much research and discovered the classic
Frank Frazetta, the wonderful
Michael Whelan, the prolific
Boris Vallejo and a plethora of other similarly styled art that
forever bears its stamp on my own work. Take a look at any of my drawings, and you'll see the heavy hand of these
artists in everything I do.
It just goes to show that teachers sometimes do their best outside of the classroom.
February 10, 2005 9:20 am
The utter insanity at work continues. I can't even begin to descibe how fucking busy we are.
But while I'm waiting for this query to finish, I do want to wish everyone a Happy
Chinese New Year! I know I'm a day late, but this whole week is
cause for celebration anyways. It's the year of the
Rooster (or Cock, as I like
to say), which is
my animal. That means this year, my actions carry more weight, so my potential for greatness is
increased but so are the consequences. I turn 24 this month, which doesn't sound like much, but it
seems ancient to me. There
are so many things I want to do, so much of life I still want to experience. But first, I need to
get some work done!
February 4, 2005 6:20 pm
ARRRRRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!
I just had to get that out. It's been an insane week. I will post something more coherent tomorrow, but for
now, I need to navigate the commute from hell, have dinner, engage in vigorous weekend sex, then collapse in
joyful exhaustion.
See archived entries for January 2005.
See archived entries for December 2004.
See archived entries for October 2004.
See archived entries for September 2004.
See archived entries for August 2004.
See archived entries for July 2004.
See archived entries for June 2004.
See archived entries for May 2004.
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