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To celebrate managing to not clutter up the flist of those who follow me(my last LJ post was 31 weeks ago) I shall post a picture of me.
The beard is gone in a few hours.
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i think this is the first christmas eve i've spent in san francsico and only the second in california (it's my 9th since i moved here in 2000.) usually, i'm already home by now or at least arriving this evening. but this year i am not going to visit my parents. i am going to visit my ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) lostncove. and since we're not religious, and today was not a free day off in gamasutra-land, i stayed home and am flying out tomorrow (wish, pray, or hope for me -- weather conditions in chicago look a fright.)
tonight, instead of flying to pennsylvania, i had a nice time hanging out with the convalescent franken_bear and his hubby 50poundnote, sftekbear and blakes_7. we ate snacks and chatted under the warm glow of christmas lights. that's how i like my christmas eve -- low key and chatty.
adult life. i really feel like 2009 is the year of my adult life really beginning. it's peculiar to be coming at it so late, but as i've said before, i think it's also kind of typical these days, or at least in my circle of friends and acquaintances.
whew. all packed and ready to go tomorrow AM. i'm so excited.
and i'm 8.5 hrs into final fantasy XIII. i think i might try to bang something about it out on the plane or during my layover tomorrow, but right now i just don't have the energy. i'm all squirrely with anticipation of what's going on tomorrow as well.
whoever and wherever you are, merry christmas. |
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WITH FINAL FANTASY FUCKING THIRTEEN |
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i have download codes for some forza 3 DLC and a qore episode. i don't want either. anybody out there want them? |
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feeling "why am i here today" about being at work on christmas eve does nothing to reduce your workload, and sitting here in a mixture of torpor, self-pity, apathy, and annoyance and not doing work doesn't help anybody get home and play final fantasy 13
must remember!
also THIS
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thanks, WBC.
seriously, these people are complete nutjobs, as we all know, but i have to say, i do agree with this statement about lady gaga: "as much as she'd like to pretend otherwise, there's nothing new or different about the hussy's pretentious prancing." i don't think i could have put it better myself.
via philbutrin |
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you've already probably seen my framed rockman box which was both the most special item in my framing set and the one that came out the best.
well, yesterday i got two more of my framed items back from michaels: a ma vie en rose poster and a tokyo subway map (that's still wrapped in brown paper.) i hung the ma vie en rose poster tonight alongside the evangelion poster i got back the same time as the rockman box.
you can see a bigger pic of the two posters here.
both of these films are very special to me, for very different reasons. i'm in love with the frame job for the ma vie en rose now that it's been fixed; the photo just does not do the silver wooden frame justice. it's beautiful.
the eva frame i am not thrilled with, as the words just run so close to the edge. if i had been warned about that i would not have allowed them to frame it like that but instead gotten it framed with some margin, or matted. but it's not so bad that i am barfing, and i am certainly too sick of them to take it back and try to argue into getting it redone. but it's okay.
love the poster, and that's what matters.
the ma vie en rose poster, i bought off of yahoo auctions (the US one. remember that?) in 2000 right before i moved to CA. i never hung it, always intending to get it framed. and i'm glad i waited till i could afford to. i have some other posters i did hang, and more or less ruined, and i now regret it... some, i even threw away, because they were so damaged. but this is pristine.
on the other hand, i got the eva poster off of yahoo auctions japan with help from johntv some time ago -- like 2001. thanks, john.
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today is just not going as planned. i wanted to come to work and kick ass, and instead came to work and got distracted and now it's 5:30 and i have gotten done not nearly what i had intended at first. when i look at what's left for me to do tomorrow, i realize: there's no way i can leave now. so i'm going to have some tea and get the fuck back to it.
i'm not going to get to play much FF13 before i have to leave for MI. while there's absolutely no contest between randy and FF13, it's frustrating. i think it probably would have, in retrospect, been worth the fucking $140 to get it last friday. harrumph. i'd say that's a lesson learned, but i have a hard time believing i will ever be put in a similar position. unless they decide to make phantasy star V. |
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http://www.sfweekly.com/2009-12-16/news/the-worst-run-big-city-in-the-u-s
page 5 seems particularly meaningful in my personal case, in light of my recent blog posts, eh?
sigh. |
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zzzz
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Dec. 23rd, 2009 @ 01:10 am
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not much time for FF13 tonight. so far, it's conclusively gorgeous, and i like the pace. gameplay systems are still building as for 4 hrs, but that's as it should be (for the most part.) not minding that it's not all lumped on you at once.
ended up going to michaels and getting the pics. there's a small fuckup on the mat for one, but it's otherwise perfect, and i am just gonna cut my losses and run. the other looks ideal now.
overall i'd never recommend this place. maybe other locations are okay, but stay away from the one in colma.
the guy who runs the department is called dana. he seems like a nice guy, and he's pretty timid. i think i actually intimidated him when i chewed him out on the phone a couple of months back when he was giving me guff over the mat for my rockman box (this being after i'd already clearly spelled out what i wanted to someone else on the phone but somehow they never communicated that info to him. this also being two months after i took it in.)
anyway, when i picked up the pictures today, i was reminded that manipulating people is fun. dana wasn't there, but to the college kid who was, i said, "bet dana's glad to be done with me." kid laughed too enthusiastically, confirming my suspicion. i mean, it's funny: i'm the annoyed customer and i deserve to be, but to those guys i'm an annoying customer. well, tough shit.
i'm only 90% happy with one and about 80% with another, and two are perfect. but at this point i think a better idea is just getting on with my fucking life. michaels can fucking suck it.
bedtime. past bedtime. tomorrow is the "get everything the fuck done day" so i can be out of the office all next week. ya-ho. |
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frames
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Dec. 22nd, 2009 @ 11:17 am
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well! my items are done at michaels. i'll be going in, i guess, tonight, to pick them up.
good news is that michaels is open till 11 cos it's xmas shopping season. |
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omg
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Dec. 21st, 2009 @ 05:13 pm
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that has to be one of the best albums of the 2000s. i am listening to it now! it's been far too long. i adore this woman.
i am not going to do some dumb pitchfork countdown of what's awesome. but it might be fun to try to figure something out. hmm. i like recommending good shit. it beats complaining about bad shit. i really think so! |
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as bear_with_me noted, i have a tendency to really overanalyze things. so i am going to strip down to just the most obvious thing.
FF13 is my most anticipated game since i was a teenager. i don't want games like i have wanted this one anymore. i have not cared this much about a game release in years. seriously: i think the last game i can think of wanting this much was final fantasy VI in 1994. and i am just not used to this kind of fanboyish mentality since i have both matured and become jaded, and it is driving me nuts. not just because i'm like OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG whenever i stop to think about it, but also because i now think i should have grown out of this shit.
i have realized i have become very repressive of my feelings and i am wondering why and i need to fucking stop because it just adds a second layer of neurosis.
anyway, there's other stuff going on, sure, and it's also driving me crazy, but i need to just let myself ride this ridiculous fucking white water raft through the fanboy canyons. it's been EIGHT FUCKING YEARS since the last FF game like this. it's been FOUR AND A HALF since this fucker was revealed at E3 2005.
i tried to play dragon age yesterday and while there was nothing wrong with it, i just couldn't care. FF13 FF13 FF13 FF13 FF13
i mean this may be the ONLY intellectually honest way i can describe how i am feeling right now:
squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
for serious. |
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so my macbook has been crashing more frequently lately. today i finally did the apple diagnostic (fast and extended, both) and found no problems. good thing that the RAM is okay, i guess, but boo toward this stupid computer for crashing. i guess i'll make a genius bar appointment in the new year. but from what i hear, i don't expect much. well, one step at a time. |
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i wonder if she has stopped to wonder why. |
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okay
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Dec. 20th, 2009 @ 04:40 pm
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even that last post was pretty inadequate.
i think what pushed me over the edge totally into needing my own place from just being sure i wanted my own place was going to andrewv's place in orange county last weekend and seeing what you can do when you create your own space deliberately.
i really did love having my own 1BR in orange county. but i've been living in SF for awhile and became acclimated. vestal's place not just reminded me what it's like to have your own space in terms of privacy but also in what you can do with your own intention -- it's your place, no compromise.
berkeley seems like a nice place to be because it's convenient, less city than the city, yet still culturally relevant and full of fantastic food options. really, all i care about is restaurants and supermarkets, i think, in my general vicinity. and a target.
i just did a little more browsing at SF places on craigslist and the inner richmond seems like it's moved into possibility space rentwise (i've always liked the neighborhood) and the castro is just not plausible.
but it seems like in berkeley i might be even able to get a 2BR with parking, which would be pretty amazing as i could set up a study/office in one of the bedrooms, a bedroom in the other, and have a true living room for entertainment (both for myself and others.)
that sounds like a pretty fucking rad dream to me...
anyway, i'll be pondering and looking at places. i am in no major rush as my living situation here is totally stable, so i don't see why i can't be choosy and see what all there is on offer. |
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there is a reason i posted that poll, of course. it wasn't context-free. blakes_7 complained that it was impossible to vote without knowing the details, but i consider that too conscientious. i am not going to offer my fate to an lj poll.
one thing that i have decided is that i am definitely going to be looking for a new apartment in the new year. i've been in this place nearly five years, i'm sick of coming home to roommates, and i'm tired of the fact that nobody (including me) has any desire to make the public areas livable because we're not friends -- so i have to live in my room. since i already live in my room, which is crammed full of my (pretty much) everything, i might as well look for something more workable for just me.
the reasons i am considering berkeley include:
- cheaper rent
- change of scenery
- easier access to east bay friends
- work is convenient to bart
there are cons, of course:
- more difficult to see my SF friends
- more likely to become a recluse without impromptu SF friend access
- harder for SF partying (bart stops around midnight; can't drink if i intend to drive)
of course some of these can be mitigated (i.e., i can crash with friends after party nights.)
anyway, i've not made up my mind.
i was just about to go to look at SF cragislist ads but someone has apparently spammed it with fake ads today and they're gumming up the works completely. awesome. finding a decently priced 1BR place in a neighborhood that makes commuting possible in a reasonable timeframe and has parking is not trivial. street parking is just a nightmare pretty much everywhere in the city and i know for a fact it's not something i could put up with outside of a few select areas.
so yeah. i haven't fully thought it through, but i am tired of this apartment on a number of levels. i am really starting to hate having roommates and it's stressing me out. it's also stressing me out because (surprise) i feel guilty about hating having roommates because they're nice people. i just need to get away from all of that bullshit. i don't like my commute, i don't like my apartment anymore, and i don't like the living situation. it's time to move on. |
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Best movies I saw this year
1. Inglorious Basterds
2. District 9
3. Michael Jackson's This Is It
4. Ip-man - technically came out Dec 2008 but whatever
5. Ikigami - I was surprised by this because I read the manga and thought it was great, and the movie was actually just as good to me. Again, 2009 release but whatever
Other than these I watched GI Joe, Transformers 2 and some other movies, but while they're great popcorn flicks they didn't really impress me that much.
I don't watch a lot of TV shows nowadays because Japanese TV generally sucks and there are no series worth following on there, so I have to follow shows via torrents usually. :/ Soooo the only shows I've been watching are Dexter (bloody AMAZING), Modern Family (also amazing!), Glee (sometimes good, sometimes omg awesome) and WWE, heh. Anyway!
Top 10 Games (only completed games)
1. Uncharted 2
2. Dragon Quest 4 (US version)
3. Street Fighter 4
4. Assassin's Creed 2
5. Saints Row 2 - On the last mission, so technically this is as good as done. :P
6. Red Faction - I have not finished this but by god it's amazing.
7. GTA: Chinatown Wars
8. Dragon Quest 9
9. Batman: Arkham Aslyum
10. The World Ends With You (US version)
There were some other games I really wanted to put on here, such as Dragon Age, Killzone 2 and Bayonetta, but I really wanted to just put games that I finished on this list, and not stuff that I stopped midway or I simply haven't finished yet. I only broke this rule with Red Faction because it impressed me so much that I can't really look at another open-world game now unless it has something awesome like Geomod implemented into it. And yes, some of those games are from 2008, but I was slow and only got them this year. :P Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go and feed ma bairn! |
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Poll #1501235
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 12should i move to berkeley |
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8 (66.7%)