Firemyst's Journal
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Thursday, July 9, 2009
Yes, I do indeed live. It's odd, but I wasn't able to put my thoughts into a blog without having my trusty MovableType setup. This seems pretty dumb, in hindsight.
Since Verizon blocks everyone's favorite web port, I had to find a new home for my webpage. Thanks to Chris, Firemyst's Lair is back in action.
During my blogging hiatus, I have been very active on Twitter. I have been pondering having twitter posts in my blog, but not ready to make that leap yet. I do plan to link my blog from twitter, so we'll see what the "other side" thinks.
All in all, it's good to be back. ^^
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
A couple weeks ago, Verizon came to my door and told me I could get FiOS installed. Now, I've heard of it before, but Comcast has given me good speeds, so I was never worried too much. However, we have been trying to get a new plan with Comcast, but they drag their feet, as usual. So when Verizon shows up and says I can get faster internet, more HD channels, and pay almost half as much, I couldn't say no.
They did some digging around my yard last week. While they two days notice was nice, no one mentioned driving on the scarp of yard I call a front lawn. I'm waiting to see what happens when the ground dries out, but if it looks bad after a few days, I'm going to voice my complaint. I'm also annoyed they didn't even try to announce they were here before digging around my house. To be fair, they were contracted labor, so it's not directly Verizon, in this case.
I'm apprehensive about the new install. I think it's just because of all the hardware I have in the Man Cave and some stranger is going to come in and muck with it all. I enjoy my sanctuary as is. I didn't even like when the Comcast cable person came in and replaced the modem I really needed replacing. Just how I am, I guess. :)
Monday, March 30, 2009
Ahh, spring break. Images of whitesand beaches and bikinis and drinking usually come to mind when someone mentions spring break. I could use some of that myself. I think the gray of Seattle is starting to wear me down a little.
Alas, my spring break means that Vivian has no school all week. Fortunately, there were will trips to Grandma's in the works, such as tomorrow. Instead of a relaxing day, Erin and I will have various appointments that are much easier to do without a child in tow, like the dentist.
Maybe it will be sunny at least. That would be a nice change.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
I was at the grocery store yesterday and a thought occurred to me. If you've seen the recent movie, Casino Royale, follow along. There's this scene where the assistant keeps touching his earpiece, being a dead giveaway that he's a spy.
My question was: when did the bluetooth headsets become common enough that it was more awkward for someone to wear a hidden earpiece (aka secret service), and less like the plethora of headsets you find at the grocery store?
I don't like keeping secrets. It gives me a lot of stress and I seem to clam up in general. So when Erin wants me to keep a secret, for an extended time, like she's pregnant, my blogging goes away. I don't want to say anything that might spill the beans.
Fortunately, that cat is out of the bag. Now I don't have to worry about saying something like "wow, I'm tired of pizza" or "too much driving this week" without someone going "ooh, what's up with that?" Maybe I can start blogging again. Hurray!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
I realized I do most of my blogging when Vivian is at school. Since she had the whole week off for winter break, there went that quiet time where I can hear myself think.
She makes my mornings difficult, though. She wakes up at "6 AM" which can mean anything since she has been given the worst clock for keeping time. I think it must be 20 minutes ahead of normal time by now. Then she comes into the room and talks to Erin, which results in 20 minutes of telling Vivian to whisper until I'm fully awake. Then they leave and if I'm lucky, I fall back asleep, but usually a cat has jumped on me and declared it's time for breakfast.
At least when she's in school, the cats are fed and asleep somewhere and I get the quiet time. :)
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
On Friday, Erin had this great idea. She would go work early, then I would zip across the water after Vivian's nap and we would head off to the Pacific Science Center for some fun. All went mostly according to plan, except for the part where Vivian was so terrified of the animated dinosaurs we literally fled the room after roughly five minutes.
After a fine meal, we head home. Traffic is abysmal as always, so we turn up the radio to my favorite station, C89.5 FM. Between five and six every weekday evening they have the Drive @ Five mix where DJ's play whatever they have in their collection for an entire hour. Near the end there was a song about a kitty, which Vivian almost missed entirely, but in the end she caught on they were singing about a kitty. This is was proclaimed that the "Kitty Song" must be heard. We had to explain that the radio plays the Kitty Song when the radio feels like it. This did not go over well.
Every time we get in the car, the Kitty Song is requested. Again, we have to explain that the radio decides when it will be played. Not to mention that I had no luck finding out anything about the song, so I couldn't even download it as a compromise. But late last night, I managed to find out who made the song, thanks to the C89.5 forums, and from there, able to find it and buy the song.
I'm thinking that "hurray! The Kitty Song will make everyone happy..." but when we play it this morning, she begins to weep. "Oh no... why me?" Here are the two sets of lyrics, repeated various times:
Where's my little kitty cat?
How I wonder where she's at.
Pretty little kitty cat
Went down the block and she won't come back
There's my little kitty cat
Now I know just where she's at
Pretty little kitty cat
I'm so glad that you came back Apparently she was very upset about the cat not coming back. It took three or four more listens before she understood there was a second verse. Then she goes to school and tells her teachers and other kids all about the cat that went down the block but came back.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Since we never seem to celebrate birthdays on the day of, I wanted to do something special for Erin. I know she likes Kung Pao Chicken, but she actually doesn't like it at the place we usually go to for her birthday, which is a place called Snappy Dragon. So I had a thought, what if I made her some Kung Pao Chicken?
Fortunately, for this endeavor, I had recently acquired a copy of Personal Trainer: Cooking. Inside was a recipe on how to make the dish, so I had to do it. With the help of the "game," Vivian and I went to the Asian market and bought all kinds of things. Eventually we get home, whew, and wait for Erin to arrive.
When she gets home, she tells me how full she is from lunch... not a good sign, I must admit. I wait a little bit, but I did promise Vivian that she could help eat "mama's dinner" so I couldn't wait too long. I start a little before five, hoping to be done by 5:30.
Overall, it took about an hour to make everything. I had to deal with somethings I've never dealt with before, like ginger root, which caused some delays. I also never fried cashews before and they refused to get going when I tried. But eventually it all came together.
Erin was ecstatic at the meal, saying that if places served this instead of the spicy junk they make, she'd order it all the time. I think this would have to be my best birthday present I ever gave. :)
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Last night, while watching 24, the pre-emptive news commercial came on and mentioned possible snow for the morning commute. It sounded late enough that it wouldn't be a problem, since they claimed it wouldn't fall overnight, but wait until morning.
Sure enough, when Erin left for work, there wasn't a flake in sight, but less than 90 minutes later when it was time to take Vivian to school, there was a white layer all over the ground. The roads were fairly bare, but I checked the school district anyway. No mentioning of a closure, so off we went.
I was surprised, despite the recent fall, that the hill leading down to the main road had already been moderately sanded and was clear. Someone is definitely on the ball there. Thanks!
Monday, January 26, 2009
I hadn't had a room I could call my own for some time. When we first looked at this house, I went downstairs and declared the large room the Man Cave. The name has stuck ever since.
Because of the existence of the Man Cave, I also laid claim to the adjacent room as my own. I moved my stuff in, set up my computer, and made it my own. I didn't put much on the walls yet because there are still various boxes I haven't had a chance to relocate. I haven't moved in yet, even though it's been 10 months.
Realizing this, I started to sort through the junk on the floor. Apparently by having my own room, with Erin unable to tell me to clean it, I wasn't. After cleaning out the junk, I brought in the giant metal cabinet and places it right in the middle of the room. I still can't decide where to put it.
I want to get some shelving for the walls so I can start showing my collection of gaming goodies, but I'm not sure what to get. I'd love to have a massive shelving unit built in the room, but I don't think I have the tools or the know-how to pull that off. I suppose I could go to Home Depot with a drawing and measurements and ask... but I'm worried about how many tools they would say I needed. I need to think of something though, just to finish uncluttering the room.
I guess I'll start with this file cabinet.
Friday, January 23, 2009
I need to keep up this "section" of the blog so I can bring them up on RPGCast. Maybe it will give me incentive to update the game database as well... right now I feel swamped because I know what a long task that will be.
So, this is a reset from Jan 1. Anything before then is just out of luck. It's not like I finished a lot of games, so it's not going to horribly disrupt anything.
Enough rambling, time to start:
 Prince of Persia: Chris got me this game for Christmas, so I have been trying to play it with him, even though it's not co-op. We chat on Skype and try and find the light seeds that the other missed. We also talk about the story, which on its own would be cut and dry, but the two characters have a delightful banter throughout. I just finished the fourth and final mini-boss, so I presume now I return to the temple for a bit more fighting and exploring, then a mega-fight, and then happy ever after. Hope to find out soon!
 Star Ocean: First Departure: I'm in the final dungeon (maybe,never know) and have characters from level 55 to 72. I still seem to level every three or four battles, so it's not a grind so much. I've read and heard a lot about the uber equipment I could have... so I just hope I have enough to pull it off at this point.
Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Portable: The game that will not die. I keep digging this out when I get frustrated with the current RPG (or Patapon). I'm in the final challenge now, making me wonder if this will truly be the end. The computer plays quite vicious with the stock market. I almost lost the second round because they kept lowering the markets I had a lot of stock in.
 My Japanese Coach: Yes, seriously.. this is the only thing I'm doing on my DS right now. I'm annoyed at Final Fantasy III, so I've been avoiding it. I really should go back and finish... but for now, I'm going to start playing with this and see if I can actually learn Japanese once and for all. Reading the manual makes me hopeful. ^^
Xbox 360 and Wii are mostly idle. Some dabbling with music games, but nothing worth mentioning. I dunno why, but nothing on the Wii has been interesting. It's not that I don't have things to play... I just don't. Puzzling.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Yesterday was Vivian's third birthday party. After an hour in the party store, we had settled on a train motif. Sadly, in this day and age, you can't buy "train motif" because it has to be some famous child-loved character that frankly Vivian couldn't care less about. But regardless, we had Thomas the Train supplies.
Overall, the party was a grand success. The cake was a homemade train shaped cake that Erin worked very hard on. The kids left with tummies full of pizza, bread, salad, fruits and veggies, and of course cake and ice cream.. They also took home various toys from the train piñata. Everyone seemed to have a great time.
Vivian got some cool things, but besides the three-story dollhouse we got her, the most impressive thing is the Bilingual Laptop. While it's not a full laptop experience, she's been happy typing on a keyboard attached to nothing (when she can't get access to Mom's laptop), so this will be a step up, I think. I hope it doesn't chug through batteries like her other toys.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Today I get an email that Square Enix here in NA has said they currently have no plans to bring over the Final Fantasy XIII demo. This original source is from a gaming site I've never heard of and likely neither has Square Enix. Clearly if they had a dialog with Square Enix, they would know that this is SE's reply to *everything* they say that the don't have plans for. They even say "watch for an announcement in the coming months."
When does Square Enix have plans to bring something over? When they tell you they do. As a journalist who has been told this answer time and time again that "we have no plans at this time" ... this means absolutely nothing. It actually could mean the opposite considering they hint at an announcement pending.
Leave gaming journalism to the experienced. Thank you.
Threenager is term someone used to describe the angsty demon a child can turn into when they near three years old. Vivian has now reached this stage of her life.
This is mostly defined by speaking only in whining tones for the last week or so. She's also started to get up earlier, so she's more tired. I made the mistake yesterday of putting her down for an early nap and she never recovered, eventually breaking down and crying for at least two hours about anything and everything. It didn't matter if it was about the sweater with marker or the fact she wasn't going to eat whatever I was making (tuna noodle casserole). Then she ate two helpings. It was a lovely evening. At least she went to bed without a fight.
The stories she tells are interesting, but it does make it hard to tell when it's a story and when it's the truth. Mr. Rogers just knocked her off the couch when he came through the door. The TV isn't even on... but she's now being "attacked" by him... by the "other Mr. Rogers." Then later today she will be upset that someone hit her at school... even though the teacher had to tell me she hit someone on Friday. Great.
Teenagers can't be as bad as this.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
I've been talking to Chris a lot about being part of the gaming industry lately. I think one of the reasons I don't really have as much notoriety as I think is because I've spent too much time trying to live the life of the anonymous person. Don't reveal your true self on the internet and all that. In the end, I think it's time to make more of a wave on the 'net if I'm going to get the respect of someone who has been working this industry for over ten years now.
So I thought about how to do this. After some thought, I decided it's time to drop the dragon persona as a forefront to my online self. I'm not saying get rid of it entirely, as it's still personality. However, looking at other journalists I meet in my work, I see them being open and accessible. This isn't exactly my way... but I will try my best.
First and foremost, a new avatar. Using the New Xbox Experience, I created an avatar like myself, Adding a few touches to it to make sure the dragon is not forgotten, and here we go.
Let's begin a new internet life... as myself.
Monday, January 5, 2009
I haven't seen this behavior before, so it makes me wonder why it's suddenly started. When the cats have been out of water completely (from the kitchen water dish), I expect them to find liquid wherever they can find it. They have recently stepped up their game.
They've grown a liking to finding human food and drink now. This morning, Vivian had peach yogurt for breakfast. She wanted to connect-the-dots right afterward, so I put the yogurt aside. We left to wash up and get ready for school and I hear an odd sound from the dining room. I enter to see the yogurt cup on the floor, partially spilled, and Kali with yogurt all over his face. Grr.
Later on, it was time for pre-school, so I put down a cup of water on the table downstairs and drove Vivian to school. This takes a grand total of six minutes. I come back and my cup of ice water is now lying on the floor. I clean it up and double check the water dish for the furballs. Yeah... it has plenty of water.
It's winter. The cats should practice more hibernation instead.
Friday, January 2, 2009
The true national champions. With Utah's commanding win over Alabama tonight in the Sugar Bowl tonight, they are the only undefeated team this year. Unlike the last time the Utes went undefeated, no other team should be able to argue that another team had a better record.
Congrats to Utah on the two time BCS win and another perfect season. You won't get the respect of the national media, but you know in your hearts that you are the best team in college football. :)
Monday, December 29, 2008
"What fight, it's going to be a slaughter. I'm getting revenge for the last time." -- sabin1001
Chris clearly wanted to win, to get revenge for beating him earlier in the year. I have to admit that he put up a formidable team. I was worried for a bit... but in the end, he was right about one thing. It was a slaughter.
Dragon's Fire : 105
Sabin's Mashers: 60
Better luck next year, Nublets. ^^
Friday, December 26, 2008
Vivian woke up at 4:15 and despite various attempts to get her back to sleep, she complained she wasn't in the bed, then once sh made it into the bed, she asked repeatedly what time it was, certain it was time to get up. As a last resort, I put her next to the clock and told her that we could get up at 7. That almost worked, but she eventually wanted to know if anyone else was up. I set her free and everyone was woken up quickly.
For not having a list, I got some really good things. It makes me ponder the effectiveness of making lists. Here's the preliminary loot list (with a couple things still pending mail delivery):
- Garmin nüvi 200 *1
- Motorola bluetooth headset H560
- Dragon shirt from Puerto Rico
- Dragonology calendar
- Gamer sleepwear *2
- Gift cards for Tony Roma's, Black Angus, Best Buy, and amazon.com
- A couple checks
*1) Since this is from Erin, does it mean she doesn't like my sense of "adventure" where I drive in general directions when lost? I do get tired of not finding the freeways (or much else) in downtown.
*2) This is good for when I go on trips and need something to sleep in with others in the room ^^
We were supposed to return home yesterday, but the snow was falling rather heavily, so we stayed the night at the in-laws. We're about to head home now. I miss home.
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