Anthony

Gaming in the News

Thu, 10 Nov 2005 16:35:54 GMT

Another installment of my sporadic series on gaming in the news:

For once, a semi-postive story - involving CARCASONNE! WOOHOO.

As well as a lot of junky handheld games, but what can you do.

Of all places, it's in the Thursday Styles section of the New York times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/10/fashion/thursdaystyles/10online.html

Happy B-Day to me!

Thu, 27 Oct 2005 12:48:18 GMT

It's finally come. I'm officially in my "early twenties" - somehow in my twisted brain they didn't start till I was 23.

I did most of my celebrating last night - some friends and I went to Vermillion, a fancy Indian/Latino fusion restaurant downtown. It was tasty, even if i couldn't drink because i had to go home and do homework.

Plus, special thanks to Melissa (for the wonderful book) and Monica (for one of the greatest stuffed things EVER - http://www.uglydolls.com/. I have the Orange one with the apron. The invisible proletariat)

Well, i'm off to another day of work - I have a presentation in class this afternoon (which we won't get to) and i'm carving pumpkins with Kat this afternoon.

All in all, a calm but good b-day, i hope!

Tue, 11 Oct 2005 17:49:40 GMT

I'm sure this has probably already been mentioned by like 50 people, but since I haven't been keeping up with my livejournal reading (bad me) i thought i'd just say it again!

Princeton Review ranked Macalester as the second most accepting school for GLBTQ students in the country! Go us!

Now, if only queer mac-ers could get dates, everything would be idyllic!

Fri, 30 Sep 2005 13:21:50 GMT

After almost a year of hibernation. . . out of the darkess of the back of my kitchen cupboard... comes the most beloved travel mug of all time:

My crazy wavy purple thermos! YAY! *wild applause*

Seriously. I'd almost forgotten that i had it. But i've been spending EVERY morning in the library, which means i've been spending way too much money buying snacks and drinks at ex libris, the library cafe. And i saw a boy in the library with a big thermos yesterday and though... Hm. What a great idea!

And then smacked myself on the forehead and realized that I'd already HAD this idea long ago.

Here she is (I love her!)

http://www.espressoroyale.com/storeimages/ACFBD2.gif

EXCEPT - Mine is bright, shiny purple. They discontinued it. AND mine doesn't have the logo on it.

Back to worshipping the mug.

The Choral Adventure Begins

Tue, 27 Sep 2005 16:57:02 GMT

About 3 weeks ago, I had an audition with the new director of choral activities here at UC. Now, for those of you who talked to me about choir LAST year, you'll know that my director was Satan. Literally. She was the meanest woman i've ever met in my life, and I barely stayed in choir.

This new guy was SO nice. He's gay, cute, friendly and seems to know what he's doing. Best of all, he was very positive about me and offered me a paid position in the choir after my audition was over.

I get a mass email today saying that all of us should come in to have an audition. I email back, saying that i've already DONE an audition, and should I come in again. He says yes.

So I go in. After waiting 2 hours, because he keeps blowing me off, he has me do an audition, completely unprepared, on some excerpts that all the new people got 2 weeks ago. Which I bomb, of course.

Guess who NO LONGER has a paid job? And why? Because he FORGOT that he'd auditioned me, he FORGOT that he'd offered me money and, best of all, he'd completly forgotten my earlier performance. And he said all of this with a straight face.

Looks like another fun year of choir for Anthony...

Poor Oppressed Bisexuals

Sat, 24 Sep 2005 14:42:46 GMT

Really, I shouldn't be surprised any more when I get ANOTHER piece of evidence confirming that everyone hates us -- but I still don't like it.

UC has established a series of discussion groups to better serve the queer student community. They announced this with great fanfare over EVERY queer listserve, and attached a schedule. The opening contained lots and lots of disclaimers about political correctness, and not offending anyone and serving everyone equally.

Guess what the discussion groups were?

1) Gay Men
2) Lesbians
3) Transexuals
4) Queers of Color

AARGH!

So, my friend Nassira (who's also bi, and pissed off) hit them from both sides - maybe if we have a cute boy AND a cute girl complaining, someone will listen to us.

Baking

Tue, 20 Sep 2005 01:22:58 GMT

Wonder of wonders - I have sucessfully baked something!

Now, as many of you know, i'm a very good cook (if i do say so myself). With a few exceptions, i can cook just about anything - given a recipe, time and some decent equiptment. 50 steps? 20 garnishes? Bring it on. But baking? Forget it.

Freshman year of college, I used to try to cook on the horrid stove in my lounge in Turck. And, one evening, I decided that I felt like some fresh baked cookies. I even CHEATED - I used slice-and-bake. None of these new fangled pre-formed cookies - In my day, we formed our own cookies, god damn it!

In my own defense, the numbers were worn off of the oven dial - so I had to guess at the temperature. But, even so, you'd think I could manage to set it at SOMETHING other than maximum - 550 degrees, meant only for cleaning the oven. You can guess what happened.

White chocolate scented black smoke filled the entire lounge - and eventually, the entire hall. Since then, i've always been wary of baking, and it's been reinforced every time i try to bake anything. Apparently, i'm besiged by the Flour Curse - whenver flour gets involved, I don't.

But tonight, my friends, the curse is broken. I have made absolutely perfect chocolate chip cookies, from scratch, without a single burn or defect.

Am I bragging, you ask?

Absolutely.

Mostly for Will and Charlotte..

Tue, 02 Aug 2005 17:47:40 GMT

I'm going to be in Iowa City middle of next week - my parents leave for family vacation on Thursday, so i'll be around Wednesday night. IF anyone is going to be around, i'll come a day early and hang out...

Contact me, peoples!

Iowa

Sun, 26 Jun 2005 14:27:36 GMT

Sigh...

I'm at home, sitting in my room watching my parents garden. This is the moment when I reveal myself as a faux-city lover - I can't decided whether i'm glad to be home or bored as fuck. Actually, I'm bored as fuck AND happy, which is a very strange situation for someone as active as I am.

However, i'd be a lot happier if there was any tea in this house. Or anything to eat. Or even to knaw on - leather straps would probably work. Or wood chips.

I get to see a boy soon! And not just any boy! Tristan! WOOHOO for hot ex-boyfriends who I love.

Finally done being sick!

Thu, 28 Apr 2005 13:51:06 GMT

I woke up this morning and... no coughing! For the first time in two weeks, it looks like i might NOT be sick! Unfortunately... Kathryn is now sick. Eventually, the horrible cycle of death and pain must end - I'm just hoping it ends before i'm old and grey.

For all you Disney fans out there (who am I kidding - i'm the only person who cares about this) they're FINALLY reopening Disneyland's submarine ride - newly rethemed with Finding Nemo characters! This makes the third attraction on Disney property that is Finding Nemo-based... which means i probably should go rent the movie.

Is anyone else addicted to Enteman's Coffee Cake? Yes, this is coming from the health-obsessed organic-crazy man. But for some reason, despite its artificial flavoring and overabundance of Xantham Gum, if I buy one of those things, It's gone in a day. I suppose I can use the calories, but still.

Fri, 15 Apr 2005 14:11:47 GMT

I love nineteenth century literature. The mode of speech, the immense vocabulary, the descriptive vividness that goes on for pages with no end in sight... I love all of it.

But, more than anything else, I love the chapter titles.

In MelVille's The Confidence Man:

"Chapter 36. In which the Cosmopolitan is accosted by a Mystic, whereupon ensues pretty much such talk as might be expected"

Sat, 02 Apr 2005 05:05:59 GMT

I just got home from the worst evening ever. Today was prospective students day in the history department - so in addition to mingling and talking to new people, which is stressful, we had to go out to a students-only dinner. Fun! You might think so. But no.

The same person arranged the dinner last year, so we should have known it would be utterly horrible - last year we ended up driving all the way to the far north side to go to a bad mexican bar. Ick. This time, it was a bar on the mid-south side - described to be in Pilsen, which would have been cool, but really in a strange middle ground between Pilsen and Chinatown, where there was nothing but abandoned buildings and check cashing places. And this bar.

Now, i'm not a big bar person. But, there are many bars - even seedy bars - which I like. Generally, they have to have at least one of the following things. A) Good/Interesting Food. B) Good/Interesting/Cheap drinks OTHER THAN BEER or C) Something else cool - decor, music, location. This had none of the above. Not only did they not take credit cards, they had nothing but beer and bad, bad food. It was full of smoke, dark, dank and loud. And I was stuck there - since I didn't drive myself. After about 2 hours, it got bad enough that 4 of us Americanist 1st years made a break for freedom and walked a long way through the rain to the train.

At least the walk was fun.

I'm back!

Thu, 24 Feb 2005 15:03:37 GMT

Yay! I'm back. I spilled water on my keyboard on Saturday night, and finally went and got a new one Wednesday afternoon - It was surprisingly cheap, Apple has lowered its prices. It was fun - there was much glitter and fabulousness as I went down Michigan Ave :-)

Unfortunately, I am faced with a new moral dilemma regarding my summer job. Advice is appreciated.

I applied to work for The Center for Talented Youth (CTY) through Johns Hopkins - basically a summer camp for smart kids, which runs at 30 different universities. It's the ideal job - teaching on the resume + smart students + good pay. I applied for TA jobs, cause that's what I know how to do.

I got an email from a guy in my department whos taught at CTY before. He said that if I was willing to TEACH my own class, he could guarantee me a job right now - it's the spot he held last year, and he gets to pick the replacement - and it would be at a much higher salary. Unfortunately, it would be teaching something I know next-to-nothing about: The Russian and Chinese Revolutions.

So, here's the conundrum. Should I wait, and let my application compete to try to get the TA job, which pays less but will not be incredibly difficult and scary, or should I just bite the bullet and try to give myself a crash course in Russia and China, while teaching alone for the first time? Guaranteed, yet terrifying job vs. Not guaranteed, yet much less scary job. Sigh..

Annie would be peeved.

Tue, 15 Feb 2005 15:01:02 GMT

As am I.

Today, in the NYTimes Art section, there's an article on Warhammer. Great! Gamer culture in mainstream and whatever.

The subtext of the entire article is that only Men play with minatures, and there are certain intrinsic features of the game that make it appropriate
only for men. It's the way men communicate, or the fact that men like to play at war, or the connection between boy scouting and playing with toy soldiers.

Aargh!

Can't there be an article on gaming without some subtle and nasty message!?!?

Language Exam.

Tue, 15 Feb 2005 02:03:52 GMT

In order to get a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago History Department, you have to be profficient in a language.

They don't care what language, they don't care if it pertains to your course of study. You just have to know it.

I just took the exam.

The only thing worse than translating from a language you don't know very well is translating ACADEMIC garble.
I swear, it wouldn't make any sense in English even if I DID translate it correctly. Sigh.

At least it's over.

And yes, there is only ONE day per quarter you're allowed to take this exam. And the University of Chicago scheduled it for
Valentine's Day.

Thu, 10 Feb 2005 15:11:54 GMT

For those of you who AREN"T obsessive readers of the New York Times every morning:

The technology section has a 3-page article on World of Warcraft, mostly about how Blizzard is bursting at the seams trying to
employ enough people and keep enough servers going to keep everyone happy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/10/technology/circuits/10warr.html

In the sprit of Sylune

Sat, 22 Jan 2005 16:15:54 GMT

I never remember my dreams, and when I do, they tend to be wierd.. Very very wierd.

Last night, i dreamed that i was stuck in a rowboat trying to cross a very large body of water. There were several people of indeterminate identity (you know how that works in dreams? You don't wonder WHY they're there, even when you don't have a fucking clue who they are) and a wave began to come up and smash our boat.

And, Mr. Moose (our stuffed moose) flew in, using super powers, and rescued us. He had a cape, and everything.

The last thing I remember is running off (inside my appt, mind you) to frantically tell kat that Mr. Moose had superpowers....

Then i woke up.

Sigh.

But it's SNOWING!

I'm such a routinized person

Sat, 08 Jan 2005 16:21:50 GMT

Ok, so i'm not sure routinized is a word - but i'm a grad student, all i do is make up words.

Charlotte's friend Ryan is visiting us for the weekend, while he applies for Nova. And even though he's a really nice guy, and is being a really good guest, it just reminds me how stuck in a routine i get when there is nothing to shake me out of it.

Like, my sleeping schedule is suddenly completely off. Which makes my appetite completely off, and tends to make me irrationally touchy. All because, even when i'm in another room, my sixth sense has this idea that SOMETHING is different.

Sigh.

On the other hand, I'm trying to just enjoy it - sometimes it's fun to sleep in (something i can't normally do) or only eat random food for a couple days. Also, I get to play tourist, which is fun - and i don't do it nearly enough.

I hate AOL

Mon, 03 Jan 2005 23:23:42 GMT

For some reason (even though i'm actually an AOL member and pay real money) AOL isn't letting me access my SN anymore - or my account with them, because they're convinced i'm underage. Their reasoning is flawless - i was 17 when i opened the account 5 years ago, so I must still be now. Sigh.

My new name is on my info page - please add me and IM me! I don't remember most people's names, and my entire buddy list was lost.

Done! And I survived - Barely

Mon, 13 Dec 2004 23:51:04 GMT

I'm done! Except for one final paper, i have survived my first quarter of Grad School.

Except for Prof. Stanley yelling at me last week for being stupid and lazy - which i wasn't.

Eh. She's just a bitch with no social skills. Plus, i have a paper left to do for her class (not due till xmas) and i've heard that she forgives very easily if you show her that you actually aren't lazy and stupid - so all i have to do is make this paper decent. No pressure, right?

An Unexpectedly Posh Evening

Sun, 05 Dec 2004 05:20:04 GMT

My parents are in town - which means we are obligated to do something with them. This is usually not a bad thing - but since we just saw them over Thanksgiving (and things weren't the most pleasant) - it wouldn't have been my first choice.

It actually ended up being really good. We went to this german faire/gift sale in Daley Plaza that we go to every year, we walked through a new part of Chicago (new to me) and hung out in their posh hotel room eating food out of their minibar.

After dinner at a . . . very strange restaurant (it's pretending to be a New England seafood restaurant. . . and actually doing a not bad job at it. Unfortunately, New England seafood restaurant clones can be kinda creepy), my mother unfortunately started feeling sick. My parents were supposed to go to the Opera, and my father didn't want to waste the ticket. So.... I got to go! Hell yeah!

It was completely awesome. We had incredible seats for the most amazing performance of Aida EVER - Complete with a hundred extras/choir members, giant egyptian temple sets, everyone in massive amounts of costumes and body makeup and excellent singers. The only downside is that I now feel poor after watching the rich chicago youngsters at the opera in their expensive clothing....

Mr. Moose

Sat, 04 Dec 2004 04:48:08 GMT

Everyone should friend MrMooseMrMoose.

He is a stuffed moose, who lives in our house. He often writes about his search for meaning. And his search for food.

About to head out

Wed, 24 Nov 2004 16:58:10 GMT

I'm about to go home for Thansgiving - which may be my favorite holiday. I love xmas, really I do - but in my family, the actual DAY of Xmas tends to be kind of a disaster - there's always a fight about something, my dad is mad cause too much money was spent, my mom doesn't like the tree. I'm much more fond of the lead-up to xmas - the lights, the carols. Secretly, i'm one of those people who kinda likes the fact that decorations now go up in like October. But Thanksgiving - that's something my family gets together on. An entire day of eating, talking and watching silly television, interspersed with putting up christmas lights (yes kat, they're horrible. That's why i love them). So, have a good Thanksgiving, everyone! I hope you're happy, wherever you are.

Wed, 17 Nov 2004 20:34:18 GMT

Is it sad that seeing this quote made me feel better about school?

Wizard of Oz: Why, anybody can have a brain. That's a very mediocre commodity. Every pusillanimous creature that crawls on the Earth or slinks through slimy seas has a brain. Back where I come from, we have universities, seats of great learning, where men go to become great thinkers. And when they come out, they think deep thoughts and with no more brains than you have. But they have one thing you haven't got: a diploma

Abercrombie got taken to the cleaners!

Wed, 17 Nov 2004 14:49:28 GMT

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/17/national/17settle.html