Felocity

The real world is looking really scary right now. Seriously, one month from this writing, I will be on the cusp of my full time job, getting ready for a summer that has no class waiting at the end of it. I will have completed and walked the stage all of 7 days ago, and I think then it will settle in.

I'm in the real world.…

What Color is Your Parachute? by Richard Nelson Bolles

"Writing Like One's Never Written Before or at Least in a Really Long Time" is what the topic should say, but that's inconsequential. Lately I've been buckling down on my Senior Project, and the last piece is almost in place. It has been a big burden that I will be very happy to move from the mandatory to do list over to the things I do for fun. This will occur right about when my job changes from part time to full time, so I should have a very nice balance going.

My most recent addiction has been Gaia Online which by now I am sure several people have heard of, visited, and may even be participating in. Because of the large user base, there are bound to be a few people with talent in the RP forums. I miss the days of Ayenee (Arts and Entertainment) RP that used to exist on yahoo.com's chat. Unfortunately, bad players infested it, and the whole thing became nothing more than one giant orgy. There is a very active Mod staff though, so hopefully it won't fall into that trapping.…

I am not quite sure how it happened other than I had promised Sheyne I would put down my capstone and go to San Jose with her to the Fanime General Staff Meeting in order to help promote her movie and see about getting it shown at the con. Camilla seemed a bit weary, but at least she was open minded and took the DVD. What DVD? Why the DVD for Masks and Daggers of course! Anyway, so we arrive at the tail end of the meeting, having driven an hour and a half to attend, and still arriving with more than enough time to spare since the meeting started almost an hour late. Within moments of sitting down, Brian asked me what shirt I wanted for staff and if I needed crash space. I was somewhat confused until it dawned on me I was going to be on his staff this year. Right, so this potentially makes for 4/4 conventions I am working in some degree this year. First RECCA, now Fanime, possibly AX, and I promised Rey Rey that I would help out at this year's Ani-Magic. Thankfully, at Fanime and AX I won't be in a thinking position and at Ani-Magic I may not have much to do their either depending on who heads what things and what is expected of me. Even with RECCA, I have focused only on giving 110% to my exact position, ensuring that whatever it is I am supposed to do gets done with a level of professionalism and effort that would be expected. I guess I hope that if I take my position seriously, that a professional work ethic will wind its way up the con power trees. History though says that will never be the case; nerds hold the longest recorded grudges. Nerds are also notorious for clinging to shredded self-importance and a feeling they can do things better than anyone else. I'm sure if you have worked a convention or tried to volunteer any information or ideas you have seen this phenomenon. For the record, we will label it "Otaku Running Things Disease" or ORTD for short.

Since we are already so far into this tangent, let's just keep going. ORTD rears its ugly head the worst when you offer help, money, resources, your soul, etc and get turned down flat by someone at a convention. Normally a few weeks later, the person who turned you down is complaining about the lack of the exact same thing you had offered to supply. ORTD also occurs when you offer professional services for free and are turned down because of a belief that an in-house hobbyist can do a better job. ORTD is the bane of success at a convention, the result of close-mindedness, and is a one-way ticket to communication breakdown and functions as a primary staff deterrent. There is an illusion of fandom that convention staffs consist of a bunch of buddies and their close friends, and even now I find myself believing that more often than not. You get on staff by being recommended by a friend, you get into an inner circle by being friends with the others in the inner circle, and you never once were interviewed or fill out an application. (I think AX now has an application for staff positions...)…

Yesterday evening, Tessa and I went up to San Mateo to see Tiff in Funny Girl. The musical was nothing short of enjoyable, and made the drive up from Monterey well worth it. We left about 5:30 and arrived before the doors opened, but that was okay since it is always better to be early than late. The orchestra was pretty good, though I had to resist a giggle when I could tell that the second horn was sometimes coming up short on a note. I was very impressed with the musical numbers, more so by the choreography which was spectacular, especially given the stage and its dynamics. After the show, by the time we returned to Monterey, it was late enough that Denny's was the only thing open. This brings to mind the Denny's Line Theory.

While eating the abysmally mediocre Denny's food, Tessa mentioned there was a limit to how much food from the late-night restaurant one person can stomach. This is the "Denny's Line". Even one bite past this limit, no matter how good it tastes and no matter how hungry you are, is enough to send your stomach into fits of nausea that ends your meal promptly. I don't know if this line exists with other places, but with Denny's oily eggs and greasy food, it seems to be the most frequent occurrence of this phenomenon.…

That was the new buzzword today, courtesy of management. Those responsible for being the first point of contact in uPortal and are to be the knowledge experts on their section are now called "Feature Champions". It sounds so strange several of us could hardly contain a giggle every time the term was used.

I'll tell you what, let's have a "Feature Crusade" where we put down the "Feature Creatins" and restore "Feature Justice" to the "Feature World". After the "Feature Feast" we will make a "Feature Feature Film" and try and garnish a "Feature Oscar".…

I have an abnormal fear of cleaning out my AOL Instant Messenger Buddy List. I don't know if there is a technical phobia word for it or not, but I am always afraid that in deleting a name, I will lose touch with them forever. In an attempt to save myself from this fear, I opened up Trillian and started cleaning up names, both those I no longer could associate a real name with, and those that have been offline for more than a year and will likely never use their name again. I sometimes wonder if people change their screen names when they move much like when they change their phone number. But, I digress from my fear. So like I said, I went through and started cleaning house. Some of the names on the list were from High School, and I am pretty sure those old MSN hotmail accounts weren't even being used anymore. However, even as I select "remove" I can't help but feel they might some day use the account again. Though I'm certain we both know that is likely not the case.

My latest addiction (and distraction) has been Chrono Trigger, and I almost feel like I am progressing too quickly through the game, despite my knowing I am under-leveled, and can't remember much of the game other than Marle being my favorite and the time paradoxes causing headaches when pondered at great length. Thankfully I can only find time to play it on the weekends, else I would have no time for my capstone. And to end on an happy note, I have one template file left, and one php page left (3 if I get the Gannt Software working). While not done quite when I intended, having it in before the deadline will still make me happy. My final target date is Apr 30, leaving me about 2 full weeks to assemble a reflection, a presentation, and make sure everything is functioning as it should. To get there, 4 total files created / debugged in 2 weeks time. I think I might actually make it.…

Please excuse my dust. I finally got layout 10 done, which highlights my complete transition to XHTML and CSS (1, minimal 2 support).

Remaining Todos: change the "generic circles" on the right to content specific circles double check site in screen readers decide what to do about photo site (gallery isn't as slick with this kinda thing) place those link buttons (right looks kinda off right now) check in IE 5.x Mac check in Lynx check in Opera 5 fix css bug affecting shorter pages (damn you Internet Explorer!) make note about browser compliance (and you had all better be using something not IE too...)…

It had been almost two years since I was at Haight Street, the last time being with Kryn. While I navigated for him that time, I could only remember two things about the SF Streets. The first is that Market will take you anywhere. The second is that every street is one way and the wrong way. I have always found getting out of San Francisco much easier than getting in, and this was no exception to the matter. Once we got where we needed to be, we walked, we talked, we drive back through In and Out in Gilroy. After an abysmally bad breakfast at the Dining Commons, that hit the spot. For those interested I acquired 2 wrist cuffs, a belt, and a chain, viewable here.

By the time we got back, Tessa was overdue at a party she didn't know was happening, so I dropped her off there and came back. I then complained about capstone, did some programming, and worked on my ILP portfolio in a small form of childish spite. As a positive aspect to it, I did clean up my Xoops language files and create an authentication function that makes life a lot easier for updating / checking permissions. I also have started playing with jGraph in the hope that I might be able to implement it before the final project is due.…

Coconut Rum, while a tasteful alternative to regular Bacardi Rum, is not an adequate substitute when craving a rum to add to your coke. The resulting coconut-coke mix leaves a funny taste in your mouth.

However, Bailey's Irish Cream can be substituted for Godiva in Erica's Flaming Rolos and the result is an 11 pm alcoholic Starbucks style shot.…

Waxy.org celebrates Internet Jackass Day, where sites pretend to be funny by spilling news that nobody wants to believe is true. However, like the good Americans we are, we blindly believe public media (and more recently blog postings).